This subject caught my eye since my last flight was to Perth last week, the weather conditions were not that good for me as well.
Quote from ShockWave.
"Factors:
Were they let down by inaccurate, untimely Met services?
Were they pressured into flying with min fuel by a discrimatory fuel monitoring policy?
Were they let down by a flawed fuel policy?
Was there any point that this event could have been avoided enroute?
Were there any other factors like fatigue involved"
Met forecasts for PER by my experience are not the most accurate and I dare say this was the case in this instance.
There is no pressure on Captains who decide to carry extra fuel, in my 10 years in the LHS at QF I've never been questioned about my additional fuel.
Flawed policy.........I don't think so. Any policy, including ones with island/remote reserve or full alternate are subject to the odd hickup. I remember when I flew in the UK landing at LHR at 1am with about 20mins of fuel, both my destination and any alternates I could use went out in unforecast fog.
Avoided enroute.........although I was not there at the time I doubt it, the company policy is that you only proceed past DPA (PNR) if the weather is still forecast above Alternate criteria, or carry the appropriate holding fuel for tempo/inter below.
Fatigue..............since I was not there I cannot comment.
Most of us treat PER with respect due to its weather and the distance involved from suitable alternates.