Declaring minimum fuel

[Say Again Over]

I don't believe atc is trying to get anyone to declare an emergency when they reach min fuel status. They are asking those questions to make the situation very clear on the tapes. There have been many crews who have declared min fuel when they were really in a fuel emergency, or ended up in an emergency situation because communications were not clear and assertive

Exactly, remember the flight from Columbia? Controllers are keenly aware of the difference.

 

[tankerswede]

Exactly, remember the flight from Columbia? Controllers are keenly aware of the difference.

From the NTSB report on Avianca flight 052:

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The failure of the flight crew to adequately manage the airplane's fuel load, and their failure to communicate an emergency fuel situation to air traffic control before fuel exhaustion
occurred. Contributing to the accident was the flight crew's failure to use an airline operational control dispatch system to assist them during the international flight into a high-density airport in poor weather. Also contributing to the accident was inadequate traffic flow management by the FAA and the lack of standardized understandable terminology for pilots and controllers for minimum and emergency fuel states. The Safety Board also determines that windshear, crew fatigue and stress were factors that led to the unsuccessful completion of the first approach and thus contributed to the accident."

Looks like some action was actually taken as a result of this accident. It also drives home the point that just because I am legal to take off, climb directly to optimum altitude, stay there until able to do an idle power descent direct to the destination runway and still have my legal reserves by a pound or two does not make that a prudent decision. This is particularly true when that destination is, for example, HPN or TEB (or any number of other high density airports scattered around the country).

 

[acaTerry]

I concur.

I was going into Santa Fe one time on a CAVU day and someone in a Cessna was doing practice instrument approaches. We were given a hold as a result, which would have put us tight on fuel (hey it was in a Beechjet) so we simply told the controller we were min fuel. No problem, he had the Cessna make a one-pattern hold in his procedure turn and we came straight in and landed.

So I have to ask....did the mighy Beechjet have the performance ability to depart SAF?:laugh:

 

[Coool Hand Luke]

So I have to ask....did the mighy Beechjet have the performance ability to depart SAF?:laugh:

The Fujitsu said so!