Hanford Airport resolves fuel station issue; provides updates

27 Mar

Hanford Airport resolves fuel station issue; provides updates

Adobe Stock image

published on March 27, 2025 - 2:39 PM
Written by Frank Lopez

The City of Hanford is clearing the air regarding some misinformation about its airport’s fuel station closing earlier in the year.

City officials have provided answers about Hanford Municipal Airport’s (HJO) three-day fuel station closure in January.

Hanford owns and operates HJO, a general aviation facility near the intersection of Hanford Armona road and Foggy Bottom Road.

In early January, airport manager Bob Loogman was notified by the owner of aircraft maintenance company IA Aviation about possible particulates in the fuel from the fueling station.

He took a fuel sample but did not detect any particulate and the city’s fuel station technicians didn’t find anything out of order.

As a precaution, Loogman reached out to a dedicated aviation fuels technician, US Fueling Solutions, for a second opinion.

During a service call that took place on January 14, Loogman and the technician found a small amount of particulate matter in the fuel and identified the source. The part failure was past the filters in the hose reel

The hose was rerouted to eliminate the failure.

That same day, Loogman issued a Notice to Air Missions, stating that 100LL fuel was not available at the Hanford Airport. The NOTAM was cancelled on January 17, after the fuel station repairs were completed.

He sent courtesy email notifications to his airport contacts on January 14, notifying them of the fuel station closure and repairs, and notified them again after the repairs and fuel was available.

Though the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has no regulations requiring notification about an issue of this nature, the airport has been supportive of the city’s efforts to identify any airplanes that were fueled at the station.

According to a press release from the city, particulate matter is found in all fuel systems to varying degrees.

In this instance, a small amount of particulate matter was found in the filters of several airplanes that purchased fuel at the airport. The particulates did not dissolve in the fuel and the specific gravity of the fuel did not change—meaning the fuel was not contaminated.

HJO serves more than 70 tenant customers and has a 24-hour self service fueling station providing 100LL (low lead) fuel, also called aviation gasoline or avgas.

Some individuals did claim the fuel is contaminated and made exaggerated statements and spread false information throughout the local aviation community, prompting the city to respond.