Summary
- Flight 5X-152 had to quickly turn back to Sydney due to a fuel leak, potentially preventing a dangerous mid-flight incident.
- The 25-year-old Boeing 767-300F(ER) experiencing the fuel leak had a long history, including its initial flight in 1999.
- UPS Airlines, based in Louisville, operates under a hub-and-spoke model, flying to 815 destinations worldwide.
A recent UPS Airlines flight between Sydney and Shenzhen had to return quickly to the New South Wales capital airport after it encountered a fuel leak. The flight, which had three crew onboard, had departed from Sydney at 19:36 on Saturday, July 13, and had been in flight for only an hour when it was decided to turn back. The almost 25-year-old Boeing 767-300F(ER) holds registration N331UP, had three crew onboard, and had only just crossed the border into Queensland and was over the Culgoa Floodplain National Park at 34,000 feet when the pilot made the swift decision to abandon the trip to China and landed back in Sydney 65 minutes after initial departure.
Flight 5X-152 was expected to operate the service between Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport (SYD) at 19:35 and an estimated arrival time to Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport (SZX) of 02:57 the following day.
According to ch-Aviation, an online aviation database, N331UP, which holds serial number 27757, was the aircraft that experienced the fuel leak. It is 24.9 years old; it first took to the skies on August 30, 1999, and was delivered new to UPS on September 9, 1999. Two General Electric CF6-80C2B6F engines power it.
![alaska 737-900](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/shutterstock_2153691361-1.jpg)
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The flight landed safely and the aircraft remains on the ground.
Data retrieved from Flightradar24, an online flight status database, identified that the affected aircraft remained on the apron overnight and resumed operations on Saturday, July 14, departing from Sydney at 20:22 with direct service to Incheon International Airport (ICN), near Seoul, South Korea. The flight operated without incident and touched down at 05:39 the following day.
UPS Airlines
UPS Airlines is a major American cargo carrier based in Louisville, Kentucky. Extensive operations at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF), which is frequently referred to as the UPS Worldport, make SDF one of the busiest cargo airports in the United States. Today, UPS flies to 815 destinations worldwide and has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of the United Parcel Service since 1988.
Photo: Phuong D. Nguyen | Shutterstock
The carrier operates under a hub-and-spoke model. From its home in Louisville, it has a custom-built 5,200,000-square-foot facility known as UPS Worldport, with additional secondary hubs across Canada, China, England, Germany, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico.
What happens during a fuel leak?
An aircraft’s fuel tank can be compared to a human’s lungs. While the lungs require air for survival, an aircraft fuel tank depends on fuel to supply the aircraft engine, allowing the flight to remain airborne. If fuel leaks, the aircraft could run out of fuel mid-flight, leading engines to stall and resulting in a fatal accident.
Airline staff must be vigilant when the plane is on the ground to inspect and review aircraft fuel tanks and ensure they are in immaculate condition to mitigate the chances of fuel leaks occurring in the future. Fuel leaks are one of an aircraft’s more common mechanical diversions. Read more about fuel leaks here.
![shutterstock_1440319952](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock_1440319952.jpg)
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