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New procedures for checking in jet fuel at the Warsaw Municipal Airport took effect Wednesday. The procedures were put in place to ensure the quality of jet fuel.
The quality control procedures, adopted Tuesday by the aviation board, include more extensive testing and record keeping for fuel that is delivered to the airport, said Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins Wednesday.
The change in the way fuel is accepted from distributors was a result of an October incident in which a load of suspect fuel was offloaded into the airport's fuel tanks.
Airport manager Lance Ropte, who was attending an out-of-town conference, told workers over the phone to accept delivery of the fuel. The workers contacted Ropte because they were concerned about the color of the fuel being delived.
When he returned to the airport, he looked at the fuel and notified the distributor that it was unacceptable, said aviation board president George White.
That incident resulted in an Oct. 22 letter from Bristol-Myers Squibb's director of aviation in Evansville, in which the company refused to buy fuel from the airport until the quality of that fuel could be assured.
"The board's concern was safety and that has been corrected," Wiggins said.
White said the new procedures will standardize the process airport personnel go through when accepting jet fuel.
"It happened and Lance reacted and did the right thing," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, we want to put it in the past."
The airport's fuel farm is a major income generator for the facility, White said, bringing in almost $1 million in 1997. That income has helped fund improvements at the airport, including the 500-foot runway extension being built.
