Originally Posted by
Lead Balloon
I don’t have much wisdom. I merely absorbed the points made by those with experience when this was debated to death a couple of years ago.
The answer to your question is in the terms of your question. A fuel ‘emergency’ should be declared when it’s an ‘emergency’. The word emergency has a meaning. So does the word ‘mayday’.
But both of those words are now being used in the context of circumstances which are not, objectively, an emergency. It’s a case of the tail wagging the dog, because apparently we don’t have the wit or wisdom to design ATC procedures that will result in a heavy stuck in a stack being given priority due to calculated fuel being a minute short on landing, without the use of the word “MAYDAY”. Only in aviation…
And, in any event, the rules have (in Australia) been applied to all Australian aircraft, including a Cessna 152 doing circuits, despite the circumstances giving rise to the bright idea being quite specific.
The problem is there is a layer of saftey to PREVENT an emergency that seems to be missing- the crew let ATC know they were headed in that direction, and the mechanism should be in place to ensure it doesnt get tht far. Is the 737 left with statutory minimums and was in a position that they may end up with less than 30 minutes, they should have been given priority so as to stop it getting that far.