MastaHanky

This is why smoking is no longer allowed on flights. People flicking their cigarette butts out the window and the next thing you know the wing is on fire.

N830MH

You know its against Federal laws and the smoking is prohibited. You cannot allowed to smoke on the plane during the flight. You have to wait to be descent approach into final destination cities. Then you will allow to smoke outside only and not inside.

majorwibi

No ... even with your posting program this is completely wrong.

If the FA notified the cockpit (which I believe any FA would if they thought there was a fuel leak - it'd be pretty crazy if an FA didnt) then the cockpit could see the fuel and watch the burn rate. Chances are very very very good that the OP saw condensation not a fuel leak.

MikeMpls

I'll bet she didn't actually talk to the flight deck.

There was a similar problem on a UA 747 bound for Tokyo recently was noticed by an Air Force refueling boom operator, who you'd think knows what a fuel leak looks like. His first report was rebuffed, so he watched it for a while long and reported it to someone with more intelligence & also indicated his occupation. By then the cockpit was noticing that some fuel readings were off.

Evan!

FAVRE's photos and the condensation photos at airliners.net don't look at all similar IMO. The OP's photos do indeed look like something leaking from connection points (bolts?) on the wing.

I don't believe that the FA would say nothing (it's his/her life too!). Perhaps if it was identified as a possible fuel leak by the captain he continued because it would be better to burn off fuel during the flight to DTW than make a heavy landing full of fuel returning to ATL.

nichojo

Wow. Was this warranted?

StayingHomeIsBetter

If it had been a first post offering gushing praise, there would have been no aspersions cast at the OP's credibility.

FWAAA

It starts with imaginary fuel leaks then it progresses to gremlins on the wing.

I'm confident that the OP didn't see a fuel leak.

FAVRE

Wow,

I did'nt know that DL has hydrogen powered MD-88's...That "Condensation streaming back over the trailing edge from the fuel box cover was Water" Story works for me then....

ptcflyer

Unrelated fuel situation while I was on Delta Flght 801 to NRT last Friday afternoon. 9/4 sitting toward the rear in the right window seat. Tons of fuel began leaking from the end of the wingtip. I thought it was something very serious... and was anticipating deboarding and a cancelled flight.

Fire trucks were dispatched with firefighters having hoses armed and ready in case o ffire. The captain could be seen "screaming" at the refuelers. 20+ folks were standing around looking at fuel draining from the wingtip. Cat litter was dispensed to mop up the leaking fuel.

15 minutes later, a truck was brought in to defuel an overflow tank in the wing that had filled with fuel. According to the captain, the tanks have a certain "sequence" and fuel amount required to being refueled. Since 747 is so "new" to ATL... they have repeatedly experienced this problem as the fuelers are not aware of correct procedures.

About 1 hour later, the fuel was removed. No deboarding required. Engines were fired up and we were off to NRT. Everyone made their connections in NRT. Happy ending.

V1-Vr-V2

Considering it didn't freeze at altitude, it probably was fuel.

However, it's not uncommon for fuel to leak from the boost pump access plate as you describe and, bottom line, it's not a big deal. The amount of venting is usually inconsequential considering the wing has several thousands of pounds of fuel in it. Good job though in doing your due diligence and reporting it but it certainly wasn't cause for alarm.

Added link for reference: http://www.37000feet.com/report/393100

5khours

I was on UA 881 earlier this year from ORD to NRT, when we developed a fuel leak about an hour out of ORD. We first headed back to ORD but then turned around again and went to SFO where there was a replacement aircraft. According to the pilot they were thinking of flying all the way to Tokyo but decided to play it safe. So I guess a fuel leak is not always that big a deal. On the way into SFO, they had to dump fuel (250,000 lbs) because they were too heavy to land.... that was pretty impressive. If you have never seen it, it's look like a fire hose spraying backwards out of the very ends of the wings.

RiverVisual19

Ive probably seen this on about 5 or 6 MD-88 flights over the years...