Narrative:

We had to deice [at departure station]; cutting into our fuel a little bit. We were still 200 pounds over minimum fuel (minf) when we took off. I messaged dispatch to see about getting some leeway in the minf number but they never got back to me; and we didn't need it so we went; 200 pounds over min fuel. On climb out I noticed the prog page at 0 fuel over destination on the climb and started looking to see if there was an error in entering data. I could not find any. I decided to level off and assess the fuel situation; we had time. The prog page started showing us landing about 1.4 to 1.6 when we leveled off. I messaged dispatch to calculate fuel at fixes. We were about 400 pounds behind on the paperwork fixes. I checked three different fixes with the dispatcher at 30 minute intervals; and at all we were about 150 pounds over min fuel according to the dispatcher. At that point I was comfortable that we were safe and [destination] was reporting no arrival issues and we had a straight in runway. I saw no reason for a fuel stop considering we were over min fuel at the fixes according to dispatch. We got in quickly and landed with I'd say 1550 to 1600 pounds fuel; both tanks and the center indicator were all in amber. Well into reserve fuel.I knew immediately on level off that we had fuel issues. I went to long range cruise (lrc) immediately; about 215 knots; and contacted dispatch to start talking about a plan. We figured out fuel stop possibilities and came up with a plan to check a fix every 30 minutes to see how fuel was looking. Each fix showed we were 150 pounds over minf. I was comfortable going into [destination] knowing that. We got straight in; no delays and runway was a straight in approach. Still we landed with both sides and the total fuel in the amber. That is to me an undesired aircraft state.why; after being 150 pounds confirmed over minf through dispatch at three separate fixes on the flight plan; am I landing with 1500 to 1600 pounds gas and all my fuel gauges in the amber at [destination]? I should not ever land in the amber unless there is an abnormal situation; and according to the dispatcher I was still over by 150 pounds so we could have landed and still been over min fuel according to what happened. We went straight in; no delays. This proves to me that something is wrong with whatever system we are currently using to calculate fuel. I came up in an environment of safety first and I think that these fuel numbers prove empirically that something is off. We landed this flight with no problem; but one missed approach and we would have been in serious trouble. Why does dispatch min fuel over fixes allow me to land at worst at around 1400 pounds? I have to trust their min fuel numbers; they are in a better position to calculate. I think the system may be fine 90 percent of the time; but on this one we were pushing it too far. Again; why am I over minf by 150 at fixes and landing in the amber? Something is off and I hope the [report] committee will look into it further.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB-145LR Captain reported landing with unusually low fuel quantity even though his enroute fuel checks were all normal; and there were no arrival delays.

Narrative: We had to deice [at departure station]; cutting into our fuel a little bit. We were still 200 LBS over Minimum Fuel (MINF) when we took off. I messaged dispatch to see about getting some leeway in the MINF number but they never got back to me; and we didn't need it so we went; 200 LBS over min fuel. On climb out I noticed the prog page at 0 fuel over destination on the climb and started looking to see if there was an error in entering data. I could not find any. I decided to level off and assess the fuel situation; we had time. The prog page started showing us landing about 1.4 to 1.6 when we leveled off. I messaged dispatch to calculate fuel at fixes. We were about 400 LBS behind on the paperwork fixes. I checked three different fixes with the dispatcher at 30 minute intervals; and at all we were about 150 LBS over min fuel according to the dispatcher. At that point I was comfortable that we were safe and [destination] was reporting no arrival issues and we had a straight in runway. I saw no reason for a fuel stop considering we were over min fuel at the fixes according to dispatch. We got in quickly and landed with I'd say 1550 to 1600 LBS fuel; both tanks and the center indicator were all in amber. Well into reserve fuel.I knew immediately on level off that we had fuel issues. I went to Long Range Cruise (LRC) immediately; about 215 knots; and contacted dispatch to start talking about a plan. We figured out fuel stop possibilities and came up with a plan to check a fix every 30 minutes to see how fuel was looking. Each fix showed we were 150 LBS over MINF. I was comfortable going into [destination] knowing that. We got straight in; no delays and runway was a straight in approach. Still we landed with both sides and the total fuel in the amber. That is to me an undesired aircraft state.Why; after being 150 LBS confirmed over MINF through dispatch at three separate fixes on the flight plan; am I landing with 1500 to 1600 LBS gas and all my fuel gauges in the amber at [destination]? I should not ever land in the amber unless there is an abnormal situation; and according to the dispatcher I was still over by 150 LBS so we could have landed and still been over min fuel according to what happened. We went straight in; no delays. This proves to me that something is wrong with whatever system we are currently using to calculate fuel. I came up in an environment of safety first and I think that these fuel numbers prove empirically that something is off. We landed this flight with no problem; but one missed approach and we would have been in serious trouble. Why does dispatch min fuel over fixes allow me to land at worst at around 1400 LBS? I have to trust their min fuel numbers; they are in a better position to calculate. I think the system may be fine 90 percent of the time; but on this one we were pushing it too far. Again; why am I over MINF by 150 at fixes and landing in the amber? Something is off and I hope the [report] committee will look into it further.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.