Originally Posted by outtolunch
Not necessarily. He didn't declare the emergency until he was unable to comply with an instruction. Had that instruction not been given, there would be no need for the declaration. Had he declared the emergency before the instruction, then maybe you could call it premature. Instead, he declared the emergency only when complying with an instruction would have endangered the flight. I see no issue with the timing.
Am I missing something? Shouldn't ATC know that a plane is low on fuel BEFORE it gets into this predicament? Then the question could have been "DL 1966, LGA approach, do you have enough fuel to go around?"
However, there ought to be communcation between ATC centers since they were told that even when it was departing that it was somewhat low on fuel.
Obviously these are the things that have to be investigated. BUT SOMEONE MESSED UP. I will give credit to the captain because the plane landed safely but the ultimately responsibility always rest on his or her shoulders.