I have had friends who had problems with this in the past, but its been quite a while since I heard about someone having a failure with the fuel lines draining the tank into the pump.
I happened to be swapping a transmission in today and thought to inspect the fuel pump while I was right down there. As I was dropping the cover, a drip started, which I chalked up to some fluid having been captured by the pan which the pump mounts to. I moved the pan a little further out of the way and the drip became a pour! Fortunately, I had a bucket right there.
Anyway, this is what I discovered:
It appears as though the inner braiding failed and over time corroded the rubber coating, turning it into a viscous, corrosive goop. This part isn't under pressure so it might have stayed like this for some time without a terminal failure, but I don't relish the thought of this having happened while out on the road!
So my recommendation, get under there and inspect this part! Bear in mind this car has 61k documented miles and I have good records indicating this was the first time this cover has come off. This was purely age and not miles!
You've been warned!