An air carrier aircraft enroute to den was assigned an unexpected holding when the weather and traff...

Narrative:

The weather in den was forecast to be VFR. Dispatch noted on flight plan 'no sig WX enroute. Airport arvl demand below capacity for your ETA. No arvl dlys xpctd'. Just after reaching cruise dispatch sent a message that den had shut the airport for arrivals and then immediately sent another message canceling that report. We immediately checked the ATIS for den and I believe it was 10 miles and 9000 broken. We continued on knowing that our arrival fuel for den would be 6.3 and the weather was good. Upon switching to den center we heard ATC tell another aircraft that they were holding for denver. We became concerned at this point knowing we did not have much extra fuel. We began checking weather for cos; publication; cys. Sometime after we were given delay vectors for den to be able to avoid holding. After vectors of up to 90 degrees off course we were given direct tbe (I think that is the ident for this fix) then hugo. About ten minutes before hugo we were given holding for hugo efc xa:35Z. We constructed the hold and captain called dispatch. Cos was 1/4SM fg OVC001. This was not an option. Publication was okay but we did not have plates for the approach there. After entering data for hold the FMC showed we would land with 1.7 with an efc of xa:35Z. We made two turns in hold and when the FMC showed we would land with 4.7 we declared an emergency. ATC gave us a clearance to den and we landed with 4.9. The low fuel light came on at touchdown.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier aircraft enroute to DEN was assigned an unexpected holding when the weather and traffic were forecast acceptable. Because no holding fuel was onboard; the crew declared an emergency and landed with minimum fuel.

Narrative: The Weather in DEN was forecast to be VFR. Dispatch noted on flight plan 'No SIG WX Enroute. ARPT ARVL Demand below capacity for your ETA. NO ARVL DLYS XPCTD'. Just after reaching cruise Dispatch sent a message that DEN had shut the airport for arrivals and then immediately sent another message canceling that report. We immediately checked the ATIS for DEN and I believe it was 10 miles and 9000 BKN. We continued on knowing that our arrival fuel for DEN would be 6.3 and the weather was good. Upon switching to DEN center we heard ATC tell another aircraft that they were holding for Denver. We became concerned at this point knowing we did not have much extra fuel. We began checking weather for COS; PUB; CYS. Sometime after we were given delay vectors for DEN to be able to avoid holding. After Vectors of up to 90 degrees off course we were given direct TBE (I think that is the ident for this fix) then HUGO. About ten minutes before HUGO we were given holding for HUGO EFC XA:35Z. We constructed the hold and Captain called Dispatch. COS was 1/4SM FG OVC001. This was not an option. PUB was okay but we did not have plates for the approach there. After entering data for hold the FMC showed we would land with 1.7 with an EFC of XA:35Z. We made two turns in hold and when the FMC showed we would land with 4.7 we declared an emergency. ATC gave us a clearance to DEN and we landed with 4.9. The low fuel light came on at touchdown.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	837840
Time
Date	200906
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZDV.ARTCC
State Reference	CO
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 125 Flight Crew Total 11500 Flight Crew Type 3000
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 45 Flight Crew Total 18000 Flight Crew Type 3000
Events
Anomaly	Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

An air carrier aircraft enroute to den was assigned an unexpected holding when the weather and traffic were forecast acceptable. Because no holding fuel was onboard; the crew declared an emergency and landed with minimum fuel.