Thanks. I came to this forum to get some exchanges so I could do a decent article on the subject without the fluff.

In reading the ARSs a number of things start showing up.
1) if you are min fuel, consider that there will be others in the same situation. You will not be the only kid on the playground

2) make sure you have the fuel you think you have before you leave the gate. This is a checklist and discipline problem but more than a few ASRs have guys saying they get airborne and find they don't have the fuel they were dispatched with or some error occurred and they pushed back with insufficient fuel.

3) often a fuel event will be accompanied by another problem and the task loading goes up dramatically. This 'task saturation' can cause additional problems.

4) pilots seem to want priority handling or for ATC to cut them some slack without declaring 'emergency fuel'. Min fuel only lets people know you are thin and while there is nothing in the AIM or anywhere else, it seems like a good idea to append the callsign with 'min fuel' when going to a new freq. And like all 'good ideas', no doubt someone will come up with a reason it is NOT a good idea.

Not to disparage any given center but DEN and CLE seemed to be the ones that most often pulled me off an NRP.

The PDX DC-8 was the event that essentially started the formal CRM programs. The Capt was so focused on the gear problem that he not only ignored the F/E's repeated warnings of low fuel, he ordered the FE out of the cockpit.

In the Avianca crash, the F/O was on the radio and never used the term 'emergency fuel' although the Capt repeatedly stressed they needed to land NOW. Also with no emergency fuel declaration, ATC did not understand the urgency of the situation.

In another thread on this forum, it mentions the problems with new pilots from other countries and the difficulty understanding them. And the Greek 737 at Helios, lots of problems there with language and different cultures in the cockpit. It happens.