GK430, I disagree that my example was a tech. problem per se. Aircraft still flyable, I just want down out of the visible moisture (and freezing levels) on an instrument approach ASAP.
My carefully selected alternate, Cranfield, is unavailable and Farnborough or Coventry are some distance further than Luton...
Should I be stuck with a > £200 bill for being cautious?!
Had I just got airborne and had an engine fail - if the weather was okay I'd circuit to land at Blackbushe and pay the £5.00.
If the weather was below VMC minima, I'd call Farnborough and divert there (my departure alternate) for free.
Bizarre question.
Evo "If your problem is not serious enough to decare a state of urgency then it's less obvious. Ideally yes and no again, but if they're busy, your problem isn't that bad and you're going to cause disruption then it isn't so unreasonable to pay for it."
Sums it up nicely - do you want to think about all that lot when you have a problem? The whole rationale behind Strasser's campaign was to remove one element of the decision - diversions should be a no-brainer. People have been known to try and get to places when they should have 180'd, diverted, whatever.
bookworm "But I think there's a genuine concern over the 'weather diversion' being exploited unfairly."
All military airfields now accept wx diversions - they extended the trial of this
because they experienced zero exploitation. (I read that somewhere...
)