An air carrier crew declared minimum fuel on a approach because dispatch's computers could not be pr...

Narrative:

Insufficient fuel was planned for lga flight. Dispatch told us the computers were unable to plan the stars with the proper crossing altitudes. On the milton arrival we are to cross marrc intersection at FL180 (or other usable fl). The computer flight plan showed us crossing marrc at FL350 (our cruise altitude). When the crossing restriction of FL180 was entered the new fuel numbers showed us burning 400 pounds more gas. Additionally; only 233 pounds was given for the approach. Lga was landing runway 22 and thus more fuel was needed. Dispatch ran the numbers several times and they showed us with a FOD of 3;500 pounds. The computer showed us landing with 2;300 pounds. We declared minimum fuel and were given priority handling. We landed with just over 2;700 pounds. We also climbed 2;000 ft higher than planned; flew the econ speeds; and got a large shortcut. If you're going to be stingy with the fuel; make sure the planning is right. The dispatchers need to plug in the crossing restrictions for the arrivals. They also need to look at the forecast winds and give an estimated guess on what runway we will be landing on and plan accordingly.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An Air Carrier crew declared minimum fuel on a approach because Dispatch's computers could not be programmed for arrival altitude constraint's and runway changes which required more fuel than basic planning permitted.

Narrative: Insufficient fuel was planned for LGA flight. Dispatch told us the computers were unable to plan the STARs with the proper crossing altitudes. On the Milton arrival we are to cross MARRC Intersection at FL180 (or other usable FL). The computer flight plan showed us crossing MARRC at FL350 (our cruise altitude). When the crossing restriction of FL180 was entered the new fuel numbers showed us burning 400 LBS more gas. Additionally; only 233 LBS was given for the approach. LGA was landing Runway 22 and thus more fuel was needed. Dispatch ran the numbers several times and they showed us with a FOD of 3;500 LBS. The computer showed us landing with 2;300 LBS. We declared minimum fuel and were given priority handling. We landed with just over 2;700 LBS. We also climbed 2;000 FT higher than planned; flew the ECON speeds; and got a large shortcut. If you're going to be stingy with the fuel; make sure the planning is right. The Dispatchers need to plug in the crossing restrictions for the arrivals. They also need to look at the forecast winds and give an estimated guess on what runway we will be landing on and plan accordingly.

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	975391
Time
Date	201110
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	N90.TRACON
State Reference	NY
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Medium Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise Descent Initial Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer
Person 2
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue

An air carrier crew declared minimum fuel on a approach because dispatch's computers could not be programmed for arrival altitude constraint's and runway changes which required more fuel than basic planning permitted.