Do Airline Passengers Now Have To Worry About Made In China Jet Fuel?

With the Presidential nominating contests dominating the news, many Americans may have missed the media reports about the recent crash-landing of a British Airways passenger jet at London's Heathrow Airport. On January 17, 2008, the plane hit the ground short of the runway, ripping apart its landing gear and severely damaging the wings and engines. Thankfully, all 136 passengers and 16 crew members were able to slide down evacuation chutes at the crash site. There were no fatalities and only 19 injuries. This was the first crash of a Boeing 777 aircraft since the aircraft family was first introduced in 1995. The British Air Accidents Investigations Branch issued an initial report on January 23, 2008 stating that in preparation for landing, the plane's two engines did not respond to increased throttle commands. Consequently, the Branch has been examining the fuel flow path from the aircraft fuel tanks to the engine fuel nozzles.

On February 12, 2008, The Wall Street Journal reported that investigators suspect ice or slush accumulation in the fuel system, restricting fuel flow to the engines, as the likely cause of the crash. The paper also reported that United and American Airlines are not waiting for the future release of the crash investigators' official findings but are currently taking precautionary measures to ensure fuel quality at airports. The airlines are also reviewing aircraft fuel tank water drainage procedures. This is good news.

The Wall Street Journal did not report that the British Airways plane had flown to London directly from Beijing. Certainly, this aircraft was refueled in Beijing for the long intercontinental flight. Perhaps there was water already present in the aircraft fuel tanks and the tanks were not properly drained prior to refueling. On the other hand, was this crash caused by water-contaminated Chinese jet fuel? British investigators are likely to closely examine the entire ground based fueling system in Beijing, assuming that the local authorities are interested in cooperating with this investigation.

Will this Boeing 777 crash, the first for this highly reliable and safe aircraft in over thirteen years of worldwide service, become another terrible example of shoddy Chinese quality assurance processes or lack thereof? Will contaminated jet fuel join pet and human food ingredients, shrimp, eel, catfish, ginger, toothpaste, medicines, tires, and toys on the list of tainted and toxic products shipped to innocent consumers around the world from China? I truly hope not, but I also wonder what steps will be taken by the Chinese government in the wake of this Boeing 777 crash to assure that air travel to and from China is safe, especially with the Olympics only six months away.

Comments

[N11BOT]

The one big anomaly associated with this incident was that the aircraft, as it approached the Heathrow runway, flew directly towards and right-over UK PM Gordon Brown’s motorcade as they approached the airport VIP entrance.

The source of EMI could have been from phone and wireless blocking/jamming transmissions, of the kind now commonly used to defend security convoys against remote-control road-side bombs, or maybe a more advanced vehicle-mounted missile defence Directed Energy Weapon’s (DEW) transmission, since this aircraft could have looked, to a radar-system, as though it was closing in on and heading right at the motorcade.

The Daily Mail reported on the 18th Jan 08 ‘The Boeing 777 was so close to the Prime Minister's car, on a perimeter road, that his security team at first feared a terror plot was unfolding, with Mr Brown as the target. According to reports the plane narrowly missed the car before virtually skimming a perimeter fence and crashing to the ground.’

[Merlin7]

To arbitrarily blame China for the crash, with no evidence of wrongdoing, is unfair, a tactic one might expect of Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly.

How about waiting until the investigation is complete before assessing blame.

[mommadona]

To answer your question:

YOU BETCHA.