My guess (never flown more than 2 donks!) is that this is not a requirement on the 747...
Strewth, this thread is in danger of actually becoming rational!
There are many who disagree. To my mind they got away with it by the skin of their teeth having been driven by commercial pressure... This time they got away with it - but what about next time?
No it was not commercial pressure it was standard operating procedures in place and used countless times before.
So everytime any airliner lands with around reserve fuel \'they got away with it\'?
What is the policy at Virgin for an IFSD on a 4 engined aeroplane?