MacDill: 4 fuel dumping incidents in past 12 months

Posted Dec 20, 2011 by Howard Altman

Updated Dec 20, 2011 at 03:52 PM

Every so often, an aerial refueling tanker like the KC-135 Stratotanker – the kind based at MacDill Air Force Base - finds itself in a situation where it has to dump fuel midair.

The Stratotanker can hold up to 30,000 gallons of fuel. In the past 12 months, MacDill-based crews had to dump fuel four times, according to base spokesman, MSgt. Bryan Gatewood.

A few months back, I asked Gatewood a serious of questions about fuel dumping.

Q) What are the circumstances in which a KC-135 might dump fuel?

A) Fuel dumping allows an aircraft to decrease its gross weight rapidly. Like many aircraft, the engineering design limits of the KC-135 allow it to take off heavier than it may land. This can cause safety of flight issues when an immediate landing is necessary to recover the aircraft.

Scenarios where fuel dumping may be required include (but are not limited to) thrust deficiency (i.e. loss of an engine), flight controllability issues, physiological incidents, or other aircraft malfunctions.

However, when possible crews request a waiver to land at higher gross weights than the normally-allowed limits. At MacDill AFB since 2009, 13 requests have been made and were approved to land at higher gross weights rather than dumping fuel.

Q) How many times have KC-135 aircraft assigned to MacDill AFB dumped fuel in the last year?

A) A review of all offices concerned shows KC-135s assigned to MacDill dumped fuel four times during the last 12 months.

In each of these incidents there was no impact to the community or environment because of fuel dissipation. In general, fuel jettisoned above 5,000 to 6,000 feet will completely vaporize before reaching the ground.

Gatewood added that the base is involved in an “aggressive” fuel savings plan.

MacDill has escalated the amount of training facilitated by our simulator. This is an incredible amount of savings in fuel and dollars. More savings are realized by flying higher than in the past. The thinner atmosphere means less drag on the air frame, reducing the amount of power needed to propel the plane.

MacDill’s tankers also carry only the amount of fuel needed for a particular mission, the reduced weight cuts down on the fuel needed to carry the load.

MacDill also monitors commercial airline ideas that economize fuel savings, and implement when practical.

Other factors that have added up to big savings at MacDill include less time running aircraft engines on the ground, careful monitoring of fuel usage on each mission and making adjustments when needed.