A320
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 65; Flight Crew Total 20300; Flight Crew Type 8000
Situational Awareness; Training / Qualification; Other / Unknown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
General Evacuated
Aircraft; Procedure; Human Factors
Upon my arrival at the gate; plane was completely dark and shut down. External power was not connected due to a write up that had deferred its use; this would effect this flights situation later. I proceeded to start the APU and power up the aircraft. During preflight setup I noticed the plane had 13;000 pounds more fuel than required for the short flight. This predicament would have us landing overweight; thus it had to be removed or switch aircraft. I notified Dispatch and Station Ops. Ops said they would have the fuel removed and we would have a short delay. My experience with de-fueling large aircraft is that it's never a quick exercise! The aircraft was booked full and was completely boarded before the fuel truck arrived to de-fuel. I advised the passengers of our predicament and that we would be delayed.  The de-fueling was nearly complete when I was advised by the ground crew that the de-fueling had ceased due to a small fuel spill; and that the fire department had been called and the station advised!  I left the aircraft to investigate; upon seeing the ramp flooded with fuel; which the Fire Chief later estimated to be 250-300 gallons of flammable Jet A. This fuel had migrated all over the ramp and was under and around the aircraft and pooling under the tail of the plane near the APU exhaust which was running due to our external power deferral! I went back upstairs to the plane and using the PA handset requiring all the passengers to evacuate the plane and leave all their stuff behind. The first half of the plane did a fairly good job of understanding the severity of the situation given the plane was beginning to smell like jet fuel; the back half started getting their things from the bins when a Flight Attendant keyed on the PA telling them to drop their stuff and get out! When the plane was empty I shut down the APU. I called Ramp and told them we still hadn't seen any emergency vehicles they said they would call; and then I powered down the aircraft total shut down (Go Dark)! Before leaving aircraft I referenced A320 QRH. Over half a dozen fire vehicles showed up and took on oversight of the fuel spill cleanup. During the cleanup which lasted over 3 hours I conferred with the local Fire Captain; Dispatch; Maintenance Control; gate CSR's; and later on the Duty Manager. Talking with Ramp personnel about the delayed response time of emergency vehicles I was led to believe our Ops center did not call fire trucks as requested since this was not a company responsibility but the fuel vendor's problem.  The Fire Captain told me that his units were not advised of the situation by the Company even though we have a direct line with his station.  He received a 911 about a fuel spill with no idea of the severity until his units arrived on site.  At no time did I witness any company supervisory personnel attempt to involve themselves with this near disaster in anyway.  The Fire Captain advised me nobody from the company other than me had made themselves available to him during this situation. This is our largest hub I believe; not some out station on the other side of the planet.  This lack of support so close to the mother-ship gives me cause for concern! Before re-boarding the aircraft we utilized a tug to reposition the aircraft. I and The Fire Captain felt this would be a safer scenario given the state of the fuel soaked ramp. Fortunately I can say 4 1/2 hours later we left with most of our original passengers.
A320 Captain reports a fuel spill during defueling with the passengers on board. The passengers are asked to evacuate the aircraft via the main cabin door. CFR does not appear quickly and the Captain learns that they were not called. The company believed it to be the fuelers' responsibility to call.