A B757 captain asked TRACON for no delaying vectors because the aircraft was approaching a low fuel ...

Narrative:

[I] had to ask ATC for no delay in vectoring for approach due to low fuel. Landed with 6.3 fuel onboard; would have had extended downwind of 20 miles which might have put us into our reserve fuel/alternate amount of 5.7. ATC did put us ahead of several aircraft on a short vector to final with no problem. Encountered approximately 70 KTS of unexpected headwind on final 2 hours of flight; and were forced to fly at FL340 on oceanic clearance due to traffic instead of FL360 which increased fuel burn also. Aware of the fact fuel would be close when ATC made us descend to FL220 over 100 NM from our destination. [I was] unaware of change in upper level winds when we left europe. Also oceanic clearance at lower altitude burned slightly more fuel than planned. Would highly recommend satcom or some form of communication during oceanic crossing so that dispatcher could send us winds aloft when they become aware of change of over 10 degrees or 10 KTS in forecast winds aloft. Current inability to communicate effectively with dispatch during oceanic portion is a major hindrance to avoiding diverts/minimum fuel situations.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757 Captain asked TRACON for no delaying vectors because the aircraft was approaching a low fuel state after an oceanic crossing at a lower than planned altitude and then an early arrival descent; both consuming more than planned fuel.

Narrative: [I] had to ask ATC for no delay in vectoring for approach due to low fuel. Landed with 6.3 fuel onboard; would have had extended downwind of 20 miles which might have put us into our reserve fuel/alternate amount of 5.7. ATC did put us ahead of several aircraft on a short vector to final with no problem. Encountered approximately 70 KTS of unexpected headwind on final 2 hours of flight; and were forced to fly at FL340 on oceanic clearance due to traffic instead of FL360 which increased fuel burn also. Aware of the fact fuel would be close when ATC made us descend to FL220 over 100 NM from our destination. [I was] unaware of change in upper level winds when we left Europe. Also oceanic clearance at lower altitude burned slightly more fuel than planned. Would highly recommend SATCOM or some form of communication during oceanic crossing so that Dispatcher could send us winds aloft when they become aware of change of over 10 degrees or 10 KTS in forecast winds aloft. Current inability to communicate effectively with dispatch during oceanic portion is a major hindrance to avoiding diverts/minimum fuel situations.

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	941298
Time
Date	201104
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.TRACON
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

A B757 captain asked TRACON for no delaying vectors because the aircraft was approaching a low fuel state after an oceanic crossing at a lower than planned altitude and then an early arrival descent; both consuming more than planned fuel.