Fuel Loadings on Hijacked aircraft

njslim

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njslim
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Wondering if some of our aviation gurus can help. What was the fuel load
carried by the hijacked jets on 9/11? Various sources give anywhere from
9,000 to 11,000 gals. Boeing specs list 767-200ER has having max fuel
load of 23,980 gal (90,770l) which I take as being used only for long haul
non-stop Trans-Pacific flights. What would typical fuel load be for trans-
continent flight (Boston - LA)? How were the two 757 planes loaded -
Boeing specs list max fuel capacity as 11489 gal (43490 L) ?
 
I was just asked this by some readers of my whitepaper. NIST reports that the airlines estimated the fuel load at impact of AA11 and UA175 at 9,717 and 9,118 gallons, respectively (NIST NCSTAR1-2B pg. 84). The maximum fuel capacity is 6,070 gallons per wing and 8,310 gallons in the center (NIST NCSTAR1-2B, pp. 85-86). This works out to 47.5% and 44.6% of maximum.

I haven't looked into AA77 or UA93.
 
UA 93 was about 5,500 gallons at impact. IIRC, that info came from the FDR. I don't know about flight 77.

Edit: flight 77, about 5,300 gallons at impact, per the ASCE Pentagon Building Performance Report, page 12.
 
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njslim said:
Wondering if some of our aviation gurus can help. What was the fuel load
carried by the hijacked jets on 9/11? Various sources give anywhere from
9,000 to 11,000 gals. Boeing specs list 767-200ER has having max fuel
load of 23,980 gal (90,770l) which I take as being used only for long haul
non-stop Trans-Pacific flights. What would typical fuel load be for trans-
continent flight (Boston - LA)? How were the two 757 planes loaded -
Boeing specs list max fuel capacity as 11489 gal (43490 L) ?
Click to expand...
The ER has a range of 6600 NM. Take the distance to LA (LAX) or SF (SFO) from the east coast and add the fuel ration based on distance to max fuel. 2300 NM or so to the west coast, but you must add some distance for the wind, your flight could, based on winds, last an hour or two longer, that is exactly like fling 500 to 1000 NM longer. So we can take 2800 to 3300 miles. You said 24,000 gallons, we have to go about 3100 nm; if you do not like the wind factor I used, you also need fuel if you get delayed at the other end, or have to go somewhere else due to problems with weather or the destination airport problems.

6600 nm range, you have to almost half that, so 12,000 gallons is okay. In Sept, the winds were normal looking, expect a 100 mph head wind, so you need to at least plan on 2600 nm, air miles. The fuels are reasonable for 9/11.
 
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Pilots have to take into account the following when ordering fuel
1. Fuel for taxi time
2. Enroute fuel
3. Fuel for holding near destination
4. Fuel for diversion to alternate airport
5. Reserve fuel
 
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