low on fuel

[caucatc]

Got a question for controllers and pilots in different countries, I have experienced a thunderstorm day, an A330 came to my airspace normally, but after established the communication he said he was "lack of fuel", and if he can not even fly to the alternative airport, according to our rules, I asked him if he declare emergency, he kept silent for 10 sec, I thought he was discussing this with captain, and he said yes, finally he landed successfully.
Here is my question, he said he declare emergency, but did not squawk 7700, should I ask him to recycle 7700 ?
Another question: if a pilot read this, can you tell me when you declare "low on fuel" , "short of fuel" and "emergency" ? I have heard this three way often, but I do not know how urgent is it.

[Over+Out]

If the UK we do not recognise the phrase 'low on fuel'
We only react to PAN or MAYDAY.
If a pilot says he is low on fuel, we would ask him does he wish to declare an emergency. If no emergency, then no special handling.

[daveyjones744]

Well my company policy always requires us to carry enough fuel for an alternate airport. In saying that though the alternate maybe very close so therefore could also be effected by the same weather. So we are always very cautious at the planning stage. Additionally, because of fuel cost my company aircraft would have sufficient fuel for Hong Kong. (generally)

My old company in a far away land carries only sufficient fuel for the sector. Extra fuel is based on capt's judgement and experience for that destination. So I can see how some companies could arrive at Beijing with minimal fuel. My company has a different policy though.

[welliewanger]

Agree with Over+Out BUT...

Being low on fuel probably means the pilots screwed up. Even if they did everything by the book and made good judgement calls, it's very difficult to admit that you've got it wrong or you're in trouble. It's even harder to ask for help (just ask any alcoholic) And even harder to make that admission in front of however many dozens of others on frequency.

There is no rule as to when to declare an emergency and (admit it) we'd all prefer just to "ask nicely" in stead of having to admit we're in trouble and then go through all the paperwork. After that you've got to live with being "the guy that nearly ran out of fuel and declared a mayday"

If a pilot says he's low on fuel, he probably is (unless he's just trying to jump the queue) and needs to land quickly. It's not the "professional" way of dealing with it, but it may well be the safest.

[opnot]

Wellienger
unfortunately in this day and age every pilot wants to land quickly. So could you imagine acft coming on my frequency saying that they are low on fuel possibly to jump the queue,( I will put my hard hat on now ) where do I start.
keep it simple ,if you are low on fuel a Pan or Mayday call is all that is required and then everybody knows whats going on

[Denti]

In JAA land we are required to declare a PAN PAN status when there is a good chance we might go into final reserve fuel and we have to declare a MAYDAY when it is assured we will go into final reserve fuel.

However i can still enter the aircrafts low fuel state without any of the above being applicable. It is possible to plan in such a way that the total reserve fuel (alternate and final reserve fuel) is less than the fuel required to keep above the low fuel status. If i do enter low fuel status i have to do the non normal checklist LOW FUEL which places some restrictions on me in terms of climb and descent rates as well as turn rates. In that case i would advise ATC that we are low on fuel, however refuse to declare an emergency.

[Doug E Style]

"Being low on fuel probably means the pilots screwed up."

That's a bit harsh welliewanger. There could be any number of mitigating circumstances. The airline I work for has a couple of routes where even if the tanks are full on departure, it sometimes requires careful in-flight replanning (to the scheduled destination) to keep the operation legal. That said, you could quite easily be in a position where having passed your en-route alternate and thus committed to continue with little or no extra fuel to play with, something unhelpful happens like ATC requiring an early descent or vectoring around other traffic.

[Rule3]

Welliewanger......Utter rubbish.:ouch:

[Dawdler]

Could he perhaps be "low on fuel" because he has been circling off the south coast for too long waiting permission from ATC to join the airfield approach?

I was once on a flight into Heathrow at night when the FD announced, "Good news Ladies & Gentlemen , Air traffic have given us a straight run into Heathrow." I looked out of the window to see the Dome immediately below us. Twenty minutes later I again looked out of the window to see the Thames Barrier immediately below us. Some body somewhere had been telling porkies. We had been going round in circles instead of going straight in. This of course would have used up more fuel than had been planned.

[Tarq57]

Re getting a pilot with an emergency to squawk 7700, that's up to the controller, taking into account the documented unit procedures.

If you already know he has an emergency, you don't then need him to set that code on his transponder, unless you want the red alert on your screen.

Other factors come into play, of course, the main one being that if you will be subsequently handing the aircraft off to another controller, the 7700 on the screen will leave no doubt as to the status of the flight.

From a human factors point of view, I would also find it useful to have that alert up, if for no other reason than it lets adjacent sectors/controllers know that you are dealing with something out of the ordinary. Situational awareness.

[Piltdown Man]

That's three questions: Low of Fuel, Short on Fuel and Emergency. Let's start with the last. When we anticipate that we will be landing with less than 30 minutes holding fuel at 1,500', that is an Emergency. If you want me to squawk 7700 I will, but ask me to do so otherwise I'll assume the phase "Mayday" or "I'd like to declare an Emergency" will have done the trick. In Europe I understand that by squawking 7700 I'll light up hundreds of controllers panels which is the reason I'll only do it on request. "Low on Fuel" I'll translate into my company's terms which means "Abnormal Fuel Phase." This means that I anticipate that I'll have more than 30 minutes of fuel on landing, but do not have enough to fly to my alternate AND hold for 30 minutes. Short on fuel means I'm getting close to the Abnormal phase and will either have to divert or commit and therefore would prefer not to hold for an extended period.

PM

[Neptune262]

As stated, if it is of operational use to you for the aircraft to squawk 7700, then ask the pilot to do so (changes of sectors, reduction of your workload, etc) otherwise I wouldn't expect it.

Aircraft operators try and ensure that excess fuel is not transported on flights, as then they are using extra fuel to just transport fuel around - not economic. Therefore fuel levels are now carefully monitored and planned for sectors - check out the pilot forums for the economic and safety presssures they get put under by their companies!

You did the right thing asking if the pilots wanted to declare an emergency. As stated from other countries, other words get used by pilots to inform you they are low on fuel and would like direct routing or queue jumping, but the only way to confirm the seriousness of a fuel priority is with an emergency declaration. This then ensures that the aircraft does get the priority it requires and that paperwork is filed such that regulatory authorities can take action against operators who do this on a regular basis.

Hope this helps, but as with all unusual/emergency situations, they are all different!!