LJ35 CREW DEPARTED THE EAST COAST; FLEW INTO AN AREA OF SUB MINIMUM WX; AND FOUND THAT THEY HAD TO DECLARE A FUEL EMER IN ORDER TO PROCEED TO THEIR ALTERNATE ARPT.

Date: 2004-01 · Aircraft: Learjet 35 · Phase: approach

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|inflight-event-encounter-weather-turbulence|other-emer-fuel

Synopsis

LJ35 CREW DEPARTED THE EAST COAST; FLEW INTO AN AREA OF SUB MINIMUM WX; AND FOUND THAT THEY HAD TO DECLARE A FUEL EMER IN ORDER TO PROCEED TO THEIR ALTERNATE ARPT.

Narrative

DEPARTED ILG ON A FLT TO ICT. WX AT ICT FOR THE TIME OF ARR WAS FORECAST TO BE 300 FT OVCST AND 3/4 MI VISIBILITY. OUR ALTERNATE ARPT FOR THE FLT WAS MCI. WX AT MCI WAS FORECAST TO BE 800 FT OVCST AND 1 MI VISIBILITY. DURING THE ENRTE PHASE OF THE FLT; I CHKED THE ICT WX ON 2 DIFFERENT OCCASIONS; FIRST WITH DAYTON; OH; FSS AND LATER WITH COLUMBIA; MO; FSS AND FOUND THE WX AT ICT TO BE HOLDING AT 200 FT OVCST AND 3/4 MI VISIBILITY. UPON ARRIVING IN THE ICT APCH AIRSPACE WE WERE VECTORED FOR THE ILS TO RWY 19R. AFTER WE WERE ESTABLISHED ON THE LOC SEVERAL MI OUTSIDE THE MARKER; ATC ISSUED A SPECIAL WX RPT: CEILING 100 FT OVCST AND 1/4 MI VISIBILITY. SINCE OUR OP SPECS DO NOT ALLOW US TO CONTINUE THE APCH; I ASKED TO BE CLRED TO OUR ALTERNATE ARPT. ENRTE TO THE ALTERNATE (MCI); TALKING TO ZKC; I DECLARED MINIMUM FUEL AND ASKED FOR WX AT SEVERAL ARPTS CLOSE TO US; IN AN ATTEMPT TO FIND ONE WE COULD LAND AT. ALL RPTS WERE BELOW LNDG MINIMUMS EXCEPT FOR OLATHE; KS; NEW CENTURY (IXD); BUT IXD WAS RPTING RIGHT AT MINIMUMS. THE DECISION WAS MADE BY US TO TRY TO LAND AT OLATHE; BUT DURING VECTORS TO THE ARPT; A SPECIAL WX RPT CAME OUT PUTTING THAT ARPT ALSO BELOW LNDG MINIMUMS. NEXT; I ONCE AGAIN ASKED TO BE VECTORED TO KANSAS CITY INTL. AFTER I CONTACTED KANSAS CITY INTL APCH; I ASKED FOR THEIR CURRENT WX AND HOW MANY ACFT WERE AHEAD OF US FOR THE APCH TO RWY 19R. WX WAS 500 FT OVCST AND 3/4 MI VISIBILITY AND WE WERE #5 FOR THE APCH. (MANY ACFT HDG TO MCI BECAUSE OF WX AT OTHER ARPTS.) IT WAS AT THIS TIME THAT I FELT THAT COMING FROM THE S AND BEING VECTORED TO THE N SEVERAL MI; PAST THE ARPT; THAT POSSIBILITY THE WX COULD GO BELOW LNDG MINIMUMS; BEHIND 4 ACFT THAT COULD LAND; HAVE A PROB ON THE RWY CLOSING IT TO AIR TFC. I DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH FUEL TO COVER THESE POSSIBILITIES AND DECLARED AN EMER AND REQUESTED THE CLOSEST RWY. AFTER DECLARING AN EMER; KANSAS CITY INTL ATC DID AN EXCELLENT JOB OF VECTORING US TO RWY 1L AND THUS THE APCH AND LNDG WERE SUCCESSFUL. I FEEL I HAD TO DECLARE AN EMER IN THIS CASE TO PREVENT AN EMER FROM OCCURRING (FUEL EXHAUSTION). I ALSO THINK THE POSSIBILITY OF DECLARING OF AN EMER COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED IF ATC WOULD HAVE TAKEN OUR DECLARING MINIMUM FUEL; EARLY IN THE FLT TO THE ALTERNATE; MORE SERIOUSLY AND PUT US #1 FOR THE APCH TO RWY 19L. ALSO; IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE TO REDUCE OUR PAX LOAD SO MORE FUEL COULD HAVE BEEN ON BOARD. IN THE FUTURE; IF WX AT MY DEST ARPT IS CLOSE TO LNDG MINIMUMS AND I WILL ARRIVE WITH ONLY MINIMUM FUEL; I WILL SERIOUSLY CONSIDER LNDG SOMEWHERE ENRTE TO TAKE ON ADDITIONAL FUEL. IN THE SIT THE CREW FOUND THEMSELVES IN; THEIR JUDGEMENT WAS CORRECT AND ACTIONS TAKEN JUSTIFIED TO END THE FLT IN A SAFE MANNER.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.