Australian contaminated fuel users should keep their aircraft grounded warns Mobil Oil - Brief Article

Airline Industry Information, Jan 10, 2000

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2000 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

The contaminated fuel saga continues in Australia with Mobil Oil Australia Ltd, a unit of the Exxon Mobil Corporation, informing aviation agents that aircraft having used the contaminated fuel should remain grounded until further notice.

A fax sent by Mobil to aviation agents apparently indicates that the contaminant in the Avgas 100/130 fuel could still be present in fuel tanks despite cleaning and use of alternative fuels.

The Australian Owners and Pilots Association of Australia (AOPAA) believes that the ruling could ground affected aircraft indefinitely and said that aircraft having undergone cleaning processes and used alternative fuel had experienced problems since and become `re-infected.`

About 4,000 aircraft have been grounded so that safety checks could be conducted, with the major impact being felt in rural and regional Australia and extending `well beyond small aviation business` according to APOAA.

However, Shell Australia Ltd, a unit of the Royal/Dutch Shell Group and the makers of Shell Avgas 100LL blue dyed fuel, has not experienced any contamination problems.

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