Seattle Times reported that Japan Airlines (JAL) has found some metal shavings left inside the fuel tank of their latest 767-300ER (JA654J). JAL troubleshoot the fuel imbalance problem of the 763 fuel tank and found small metal particles inside! The article did not say it's JA654J but you can tell from the delivery date.
A person familiar with the details of the JAL airplane incident said the airline noticed abnormal fuel transfers between the fuel tanks in the wings and the central fuselage. Maintenance technicians seeking the cause found a metal shaving in the left main wing fuel tank trapped in an outlet valve, preventing it from closing all the way.
Further inspections turned up more metal particles. While none were found in the filter that strains fuel going into the engines, there were some in a low spot of the wing tank used to drain fuel samples and more in the center tank inside the fuselage.
"That stuff is supposed to be vacuumed out and flushed," the person said. "Even after they had flown it a while, there was still metal sloshing around at the bottom of the tank."
Good job for JAL maintenance staff to notice the problem as this could damage the plane! FAA has start a review on Boeing's manufacturing process. By the way this is the FIRST plane with the new JAL livery! It has only flown 325 hours so far. :)
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