With aircraft misfueling still a concern in the general aviation industry, the National Air Transport Association (NATA) has released an update to its Safety 1st general aviation misfueling-prevention program. Developed as part of NATA’s industry-standard Safety 1st ground-handling training program, the misfueling-prevention program is a free, online resource for pilots, line service staff, and others in the aircraft fueling arena.
“The new training refreshes the original content and addresses new misfuelling risks associated with unleaded avgas and the introduction of an additional grade of fuel at airports,” explained Steve Berry, NATA’s managing director of safety and training. “We encourage every individual throughout the aircraft refueling process to complete the updated training, even those who have already participated in the original program.”
This latest update also includes information on the risk of misfueling a spark ignition, piston-powered aircraft with lower octane avgas than it requires, such as UL94 into an aircraft that requires 100-octane avgas (100LL), Berry told AIN. The UL component of the update is important to highlight as more and more airports begin to offer a UL94 option during the transition period to a commercially available 100-octane unleaded avgas with fleet-wide approval.
NATA's original program was established in 2015 to conform with standards from the Energy Insitute as well as the association's own best practices derived from its Safety 1st operational training.
“Putting the wrong grade of fuel into an aircraft is proven to have tragic consequences,” said NATA president and CEO Curt Castagna. “As the airport landscape evolves, NATA is proud to invest in and provide dynamic resources that continuously educate and train all stakeholders on the simple but critical elements required to prevent aircraft misfuelings.”