CASA releases directive to ground aircraft affected by fuel contamination - Brief Article

Airline Industry Information, Jan 12, 2000

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

A new directive grounding Australian small aircraft due to fuel contamination was released by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) late on 10 January.

The directive extends the measures of a previous directive from CASA to all aircraft that have used fuel from Mobil`s Altona Avgas refinery between 21 November and 23 December 1999 and has ordered these aircraft to remain grounded until new facts about the contamination are available.

A statement from CASA said that `there is now evidence of the contamination in a white or clear form which had previously been undetected...(which)...means the fuel systems of aircraft that used the Mobil 100/130 Avgas cannot be easily cleaned.` Prior to this notice, aircraft owners had been looking for black deposits as evidence of the contamination.

The white or clear deposits apparently represent the reaction of the contaminant with carbon dioxide in air.

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