Originally Posted by
Lead Balloon
Of course they should “explain themselves”, AOTW.
I planned to land with 45 minutes of fixed reserve, realised I was going have only 30 due to higher than forecast winds, and decided to continue and land with only 30. What’s the safety issue?.
The question then is, what is your personal fixed reserve? 45 minutes obviously isn’t it as you seem quite happy to chew into it. What if you were going to land with 15 minutes? Or 10? What is your personal minimum fuel and why?
The guys in that RJ football charter that ran out of fuel probably planned to have 30 and then stuff happened and they ended up with none. Could that have been because they’d got into a habit of treating the fixed reserve as a suggestion that could be burnt if it was inconvenient to refuel somewhere.
Personally I think your example is a safety issue, not because you would be likely to run out of fuel, but because you have a disregard for the rules if following them causes inconvenience.