Hold Entry and Fuel Management with a Late Descent Clearance
You are at FL240 inbound to a busy international airport, 30 minutes from the initial approach fix, with 70 minutes of fuel remaining above your final reserve. ATC issues: 'Hold at ABC, maintain FL240, expect further clearance at time 45.' You are 12 NM from ABC, approaching from the east; the holding fix has an inbound course of 270°, right-hand turns. Your aircraft's FMS has the hold in its database but you have not cross-checked the entry. Weather at destination is 800 ft broken, 4 km, wind 260/25 kt. The airport has one ILS and a single runway; arrivals are backing up.
1. Determine the hold entry you will fly and describe how you would execute it, including wind correction.
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Inbound course is 270°, so the outbound course is 090°. You are approaching from the east, tracking roughly 270° toward the fix. The angle between your inbound track and the hold's outbound course determines the entry.
With a right-hand hold, the outbound leg lies to the south of the fix. Approaching from the east on a westerly track, you arrive at the fix roughly aligned with the inbound course, so a direct entry is appropriate: cross the fix, turn right to the outbound heading of 090°, fly the outbound leg for the prescribed time or distance, then turn right to intercept the 270° inbound course.
Wind correction: wind is 260/25 kt, nearly aligned with the inbound course. Outbound you will drift; crab into wind so your outbound ground track is 090°, and expect a longer outbound time. Inbound, the headwind component means a lower groundspeed and a longer inbound leg; adjust the outbound time so the inbound leg takes the prescribed time. Cross-check the FMS hold against your manual calculation; if they disagree, fly the manual entry and advise ATC if the discrepancy matters.
2. Assess your fuel situation against the expected further clearance time and decide what you will do if the hold is extended.
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You have 70 minutes above final reserve and are 30 minutes from the IAF. If you hold for the full 45 minutes to the expected further clearance time, you would consume roughly 45 minutes of holding fuel plus the 30 minutes to the airport, leaving little or nothing above final reserve before you even begin the approach. That is not acceptable.
Set a personal bingo: the point at which you must leave the hold to reach the destination or a suitable alternate with reserves intact. With 70 minutes of usable margin, a hold of more than about 20–25 minutes makes the destination plan marginal, especially with a single ILS and a queue of arrivals.
If the hold is extended, tell ATC your fuel state and request either a revised expect-further-clearance time, a lower level or direct routing to reduce time, or diversion to an alternate. If fuel reaches a state that threatens safety, declare minimum fuel and then mayday fuel if the situation becomes critical. Do not let ATC's plan override your reserve.
3. The wind at destination is 260/25 kt with 800 ft broken and 4 km. How does that affect your approach planning and your alternate choice?
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The wind is nearly aligned with the runway served by the ILS (assume 260°), so it is a headwind on approach: expect lower groundspeed, a longer final, and a higher fuel burn in the pattern. The 25 kt wind also means significant drift on the initial and intermediate segments, so brief the wind correction and the missed approach carefully.
Weather at 800 ft broken and 4 km is above the ILS minima, but the single runway and backing-up arrivals mean the risk is delay, not minima. If you divert, choose an alternate with its own precision approach and a monitored weather report, and check its forecast validity. If the destination weather trends down, the alternate must be reachable with reserves. Brief the alternate approach and the missed approach before you need them, and confirm the alternate's weather while you hold.