GoJet Embarassment
 

This morning in RDU there was a GoJet who was sitting in the runup pad with its lights left on (while dark out, facing oncoming taxiing aircraft).

Then came the absurdity:
After sitting there for a while they asked ground if they could taxi around the airport making all right turns in order to assist with fuel crossfeeding. I have never heard of anything so ridiculous.

I was just imagining being a paying passenger on this flight. Wow.

Ground said that they could send them to a pad where they would spin around in 360s as long as they wanted. They responded "sure sounds great".

A few questions
1) Why did they even consider this?
2) How the he!! did they explain this to passengers?
3) Why did the Captain decide to leave the gate with such an imbalance? Did he have any backbone to just have the fueler fix the problem, or to call maintenance and have them deal with the issue?

Pretty embarrassing to the piloting profession. Not trying to monday morning quarterback but I wouldn't have left the gate and put passengers in such an awkward strange situation...."spinning around on a taxiway due to a fuel problem."

What makes you certain there were passengers on board or even pilots for that matter? Any chance it was a couple of mechanics doing their job?

GoJet Embarassment
 

1) I could see passengers through the window
2) I could see pilots through their window

GoJet Embarassment
 

...and ground was asking how long until they were ready for takeoff.

GoJet Embarassment
 

That happened to me years ago as an FO on a Saab in FWA. Capt locked the brake and spun several times with the cross flow open. No PA announcement or anything. Ground asked if there were people on the airplane. Embarrassing wasn't even half of it.

That's what happens when you don't do the receiving checklist. He was mis-fueled at the gate, no checklist, and they caught it too late.

So assuming the xflow was deferred, and they were trying to do a gravity crossflow by throwing fuel around, our MEL states "Gravity crossflow shall not be used for ground/taxi operations."

Now lets assume it was working, why didn't they just start the other engine and then shut down the engine on the low side and burn fuel that way? Seems like some people don't understand systems a little bit and felt like making up their own procedures.

I also know for a fact that they CAN defuel in RDU.

Used to be standard practice on the metro. No pumps to crossflow. Of course with boxes not pax.

Or look at your EICAS caution messages!

On the CRJ 700 you have to shut both fuel boost pumps during single engine taxi, or you get a large fuel imbalance. Maybe they forgot this and thought gravity cross flow would fix it faster. And also on all CRJs you can't sit more than 10 minutes with your lights on for cooling purposes. Sounds like these guys aren't too up on their systems knowledge. But hey, all DAL cares about is cheap feed...

We SE taxi with the operating engine boost pump on. Never had an issue.

I'm in!!!!!!!!!

Good point, or just simply are unaware of what they are doing. Ask a UAL 76 crew how a fuel system MISmanagement worked for them not too long ago coming out of Hawaii.

Pretty much ANY legacy airline now.

+1...the only time those go off from gate to gate is the check valve test on first flight of day or if an abnormal checklist calls for it, otherwise they are on, or selected on I should say, as they are not actually on all the time. I will say however that the gravity xflow is about the biggest pain in the @$$ on that airplane.

Only if the x-flow pump is INOP on the 7/9. The 200 has a limitation for single engine taxi but can't remember, been a few years since I flew the bird.

What is this UAL 76 story out of Hawaii?

On the 700/900 if one is on, both are on, you can't just turn off 1 side. And I thought our procedure was universal, since it came straight from Bombardier's engineers. But what do they know? I'm sure GoJets has smarter people in their training department. :rolleyes:

You mean the Outsourced to fsi training department ??? Imagine that!

You can if you are single engine and deslect the boost pump switch on the shutdown engine.

Everybody who has flown with CA Zoolander knows he can't turn left, and is sensitive about that. Way to rub it in :D

Why are you so caustic all the time? I don't work for GoJet and was simply pointing out our procedure.

Get over yourself.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but... I believe that when you're running a single engine, with any boost pump on, both pumps operate and provide 200% of what the engine needs into the fuel feed manifold. Then then excess fuel is returned to the tank of the operating side engine, via a return line and motive flow ejectors. This can easily cause an imbalance, but which is usually corrected with auto crossflow, when operating. I believe our MEL procedure when operating with an MEL'd crossflow pump is to operate with both engines running, so that the excess fuel returns to both wing tanks, instead of just one.

If one pump is on they both run regardless of switch position.. You can deselect it all you want but it doesn't do anything if the other boost pump is running.

I pretty much cut to the chase of it with my post. But some guys were climbing out in a 76, MISmanaged their fuel pumps, had an engine (or two) quit running, got it (them) re-lit. You know, no big deal, happens all the time......

And IIRC, the number of the airplane is freaky man, freaky........

I assume the flight deck crewmembers are not aiming to become Nascar drivers. If they were, they would have made all left turns. :D

If I remember correctly, those switchlights aren't actually operating the boost pumps, they are basically arming the low pressure sensors to fire the boost pumps if low pressure is detected.

That is true, if one engine has a low fuel pressure both pumps will turn on. However as 80knots said, those switches arm the pumps. If you are running single engine, your left engine off will have no fuel pressure, thus causing the pumps to run. When you deselect the left pump, it disarms the low pressure sensor and kills the pump. Thus you get the low pressure and L fuel pump messages. The right EDP provides the pressure to turn the right pump off.

And you were that enraged/disappointed in GoJets and embarassed for the profession that you came right home to post it on apc. Wow

...Or got to the hotel and had nothing better to do for a bit. There's always time for some Gojet hate!

Good...good!

I recently witnessed a GoJet CR7 do a rotation at 2.7 degrees per second (I timed it). I cannot remember a time where I was more upset. I said to myself "These guys do not deserve to fly a kite, not to mention passengers"...

I keep submitting my observations and recommended certificate actions to the FAA, but have not heard anything yet. I will keep you all posted.

Thank you for your attention to detail. That is absolutely unacceptable.

http://womendonthavefriends.files.wo...ocker_room.jpg

You must be a perfect pilot manual recommends 3.0 to 5.0 degrees so this guy rotates to slow by .3 and you are writing to the FAA. I think you need to be less anal. Or maybe I need to be more like you.

::whoosh::

Because he's a toolkit.

Wow my dry sense of humor must be parched. Let me clarify; it was a joke ha.. ha... ha..

Sheesh.

What's your point 747? Taxiing in circles with peeps in the back to transfer fuel is most certainly worthy of derision and laughter.

Me thinks he doesn't understand sarcasm. SHeldon much?

My point is the GoJet bashing is getting old and it comes across as juvenile and petty. God help them if they do something REALLY stupid and worthy of ridicule like land or takeoff on a taxiway. Why, can you imagine how retarded you'd have to be to do something like that? I've NEVER heard of a professional pilot .. oh wait.

If you really want some laughs sit in on a Part 91 checkride some time.

Now THAT is some funny stuff right there.