Airplane fuel leak noticed by passenger

CHICAGO, May 22 (UPI) -- Staff Sgt. Bartek Bachleda of the U.S. Air Force said he was determined to inform crew members after noticing a fuel leak on a flight from Chicago to Japan.

Bachleda, who is part of a air refueling squadron, said when he noticed something leaking from the left side of the Boeing 747-400 jet he was traveling in to Tokyo, he immediately contacted a flight attendant, CNN reported Friday.

"I decided, if the captain doesn't know about this before we go oceanic -- meaning once we fly over the ocean -- and we're leaking this massive amount of fuel, this is going to be a bad day," Bachleda, who is stationed in Japan, said of the recent midair incident.

After Bachleda showed the flight attendant a video he took of the leak, the flight crew was notified and the airplane eventually landed in San Francisco as a precaution.

United Airlines spokesman Jeff Kovick told CNN the flight crew had noticed the fuel leak prior to Bachleda's warning, adding the flight's pilot had no plans to attempt to cross the Pacific Ocean given the fuel situation.