Low fuel emergency in DFW

d&tm writes:

Mxmanic was trying to make the point that the pilot could do
anything he wanted and to hell with ATC.

Yes. It's in the rules and regulations, for both ATC and pilots. And the
regulations are completely unambiguous about this.

The pilot in command is master and commander of the flight, following the
maritime tradition. He is 100% responsible for the flight, and he has 100%
authority for its safety. It's a time-tested principle and it works well.

I was trying to point out that this is not logical and used a
hypothetical example to make the point.

It's completely logical, which is why it has applied for centuries.

I wonder how many people see the irony in this thread, of how mxmanic is
continually pilloried for thinking he knows something about flying without
ever taking the controls, yet how many pilots here think they know more
about ATC than the controllers.

This issue has nothing to do with ATC. Once the pilot declares an emergency,
ATC is out of the loop. The error in the incident under question was that ATC
didn't understand this. A possible secondary error was that the pilot may not
have understood it, either, but that remains to be seen with a fuller
investigation. The error of ATC Is indisputable and grave.

--
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