Lufthansa MD11 near Frankfurt on Sep 22nd 2018, fuel system problems

Last Update: September 22, 2018 / 20:16:43 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Sep 22, 2018

Classification
Incident

Airline
Lufthansa

Flight number
LH-8231

Departure
Los Angeles, United States

Destination
Frankfurt/Main, Germany

Aircraft Registration
D-ALCK

Aircraft Type
McDonnell Douglas MD-11

ICAO Type Designator
MD11

A Lufthansa Cargo McDonnell Douglas MD-11, registration D-ALCK performing flight LH-8231 (dep Sep 21st) from Los Angeles,CA (USA) to Frankfurt/Main (Germany), was at FL370 enroute near London,EN (UK) when first indications of a problem with the fuel system (fuel pumps) occurred. After leaving cruise level on descent into Frankfurt the crew advised they might not be able to access all available fuel and thus may be short on fuel. Emergency services deployed to their stand by positions at Frankfurt, the aircraft landed safely on Frankfurt's runway 25L about 50 minutes after the first problems surfaced and about 15 minutes after the crew selected the emergency transponder code.

The airport reported the crew made a precautionary, not an emergency landing advising of a problem with the fuel supply systems. It is unclear whether sufficient fuel had been loaded in Los Angeles.

The airline reported the crew received a warning indication about one hour prior to landing of a possible problem in one of the multiple fuel supply lines. The crew declared emergency to receive priority, emergency services were therefore called out for the landing. The aircraft landed safely and taxied to the parking position.

According to information The Aviation Herald received the aircraft had still 18 tons of fuel (about 2.5 hours endurance) on board when the problems started near London.
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Sep 22, 2018

Classification
Incident

Airline
Lufthansa

Flight number
LH-8231

Departure
Los Angeles, United States

Destination
Frankfurt/Main, Germany

Aircraft Registration
D-ALCK

Aircraft Type
McDonnell Douglas MD-11

ICAO Type Designator
MD11

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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