Emergency Fuel Shut-off for Dummies

It seems obvious that people working with equipment anywhere on or near the ramp should know emergency shut-off procedures for all the equipment on the ramp, including, of course, how to shut off the fuel either from the ground or the truck. My experiences working on the ramp and as an NTSB Member investigating ramp accidents have convinced me that while this may seem obvious, it bears regular repetition and training.   As a Board member, I investigated a fuel truck fire at a major airport where a leak in the fueling nozzle ignited under the fueling platform.  Disaster was narrowly averted only by the quick response of the airport’s crash, fire and rescue crew. The deadman’s switch had been jammed by the fueler to avoid having to depress the fueling switch (a subject for another blog) so the fuel kept spewing out even after the fueler ran for cover.    Subsequent investigation determined that while there were numerous people in the area of the truck, none of them took the simple precaution of hitting the truck’s emergency shut-off switch in time to prevent destruction of the fuel truck and considerable damage to the 747 aircraft. Of course, it was quite fortunate that no one was injured or killed in the conflagration that ensued.   I’m not suggesting that ramp personnel risk their own lives, but I believe that if people on the ramp at the time of this fuel fire had known where the truck’s emergency shut-off was located — in the back away from the fire — they could easily have shut the vehicle down without undue risk to themselves.