Central to the proper functioning of any aircraft is the Fuel Quantity Indicator System (FQIS), the series of fuel tank probes that provide fuel measurements to the cockpit through the plane’s centralised monitoring system. These probes have proven to be susceptible to fouling by microbial growth in the fuel tank.
How? Microbial growth can foul the probes that provide the readings necessary for the system to correctly read the tank’s fuel level. More specifically, this growth interferes with the capacitance measurements the system interprets. If the FQIS can’t read things properly, it will return an incorrect reading to the cockpit or even a false indication of bad fuel quantity.
Safe aircraft operation depends on an FQIS system that is correctly functioning. Both IATA and aircraft manufacturers like Boeing and Gulfstream recognize this and specify routine microbial testing of their plane’s aviation fuel. ATP-By-Filtration is an excellent option for this because it gives accurate and sensitive results of total microbial contamination, delivered on-site in just minutes. This makes it easy for aircraft personnel to make the best real-time decisions for them.
