Crash Course In Density :: essays research papers

Crash Course in DensityAs flight 143, a twin engine 767, was going over Red Lake on its wasto Edmonton, Canada, the left front enkindle pump warning light went on. There werea few possibilities for this to happen, such as the go off pump failing, a sackline clogging, or a empty fuel tank. The former two were easily dealt with,since the categorical could fly without integrity fuel pump. However, the last possibilitywas horrifying. After a few minutes, the second fuel pump in the left wingbegan to blare. It would be too much of a coincidence for two fuel pumps toindependently fail, or two fuel lines to independently clog, so it was apparentthat the left tank was out of fuel. Quickly, the pilots decided that getting toEdmonton was out of the question. The nearest large airport was at Winnipeg, sothey radioed ahead and changed their course. In a few minutes, all four of thefuel pumps had failed. The worst come-at-able news, they were out of fuel. In afew more minutes the engines stopped running, and all of the high techinstruments became useless.They realized that they could not even make it to Winnipeg. Their furtherchance was an abandoned to a abandoned Air Force airstrip. Unfortunately, theairstrip had been converted to a race track, complete with race cars, fences,and spectators. The 767 crash landed, and, fortunately, no one was killed.Their were many contributing factors that made this plane run out offuel. First of all, the computerized fuel gauge was not working, and amaintenance worker said , incorrectly, that the plane was still certified to fly.To measure the amount of fuel remaining, they use a drip stick method. Theydiscovered that their was 7 682 liters in the tank. However, they had alwaysmeasured fuel in the past as pound, while the 767 consumed fuel in kilograms.The drip sticks did not express the amount of fuel in pounds or kilograms, butin liters. It seems to be a simple matter of conversion to arrive a the answer.