Decisions....they're the hardest part of flying..... The flight FWA described was carried out by a very good friend of my wifes family, I don't know the full facts though I believe there was a fuel issue. Whether or not this was bad planning or not will come out in the investigation.
I had a fuel flow reading of zero on the climb out the other day under IFR. The plane was behaving perfectly fine, and I thought about continuing the flight. I decided that my life is worth too much to me to risk it so I told departure control I wanted to return. Felt a bit of a prat, the (very professional) controllers kept asking me if we needed assistance, we were given priority over everyone else even though we didn't declare an emergency or urgency...but I'm glad we landed. The fuel pump had to be replaced.
Part of what influenced my decision was a book called "The Killing Zone"...I suggest everyone reads it....You made a good decision.
EA