This chief pilot was astounded by an unlikely event that was nevertheless hazardous.

When I arrived at the base before dawn recently, I thought I saw our engineer at the fuel bowser. But a few steps later, I found him inside the hangar, busy on an aircraft. That meant someone else was outside in the dark.

With torches in hand, we went to check. What we found was both strange and alarming. A woman was kneeling by the bowser, her face pressed against an exhaust vent, inhaling the fumes. She ignored our questions so we called the police, who arrived quickly and took her into custody.

A check of the facility revealed that several valves and the fuel nozzle had been tampered with. This interference might easily have gone unnoticed – and that’s what concerned us most.

In our routine risk reviews we’d never considered that someone might interfere with our fuel installation in this way. It’s a reminder that even unlikely scenarios can present real hazards.

We want to alert all Part 135 and 137 operators that, if you have unattended mobile fuel tankers or fuel trailers at off-airport job sites, this could happen to you, too.

Photo: CAA