Dan Luke wrote:

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote:


ATC could have very well taken this as a declaration of minimum fuel,
which is NOT a declaration of emergency.


"We need to declare an emergency," a pilot radioed air traffic control. "We
got a low fuel situation. We're not sure if it's a fuel leak or what, but we
need to get on the ground, right away, please."


Right. Any controller who would treat this statement as anything less than a
declaration of a life-threatening emergency has his head up and locked.

And, the PIC has to be sufficiently assertive to overcome that "up and
locked" syndrome.

Who has the final authority and responsibility for the safe operation of
the flight?

What is the upside of denying the requested runway? Some inconvenience is
avoided.

What is the downside? The plane doesn't make the field and people die.


Those are issues that the captain could have short-circuited.