Once you are airbourne, you must ensure that you have enough fuel within reason to land safely.
Scenario 1: Flying from A to B on a clear day. You take trip fuel, variable and fixed reserve. After your last Critical Point, you are committed to your destination - nothing wrong or illegal about that, right? - provided it is reasonable for you to assume that you can land there.
If you had been told of unforecast fog, or a crash on the runway then obviously it wouldn't be reasonable to continue - and you would cop it if you had to declare an emergency after continuing under those circumstances.
Scenario 2: Flying from A to B, weather at B is below the alternate minima, and you carry C as an alternate.
Arriving at B, you have made a little fuel enroute, and hold for 10 minutes as a front passes. You may continue to hold at B (burning your alternate fuel) if it is reasonable for you to assume that you can land - nothing wrong or illegal about that. i.e. You have observations/information on the weather which guarantees that the weather won't be an issue for you before you burn to final reserve.
You cop it if, in the event, you have to declare a fuel emergency for anything with you reasonably could have predicted.
Scenario 1 and 2 are effectively the same.
Last edited by Checkboard; 20th Aug 2013 at 16:49.