Bob,

Question 1) In relation to Sector Entries. On page 5.31 of your book you mention if outside controlled airspace within 25 nautical miles of the aid but you are outside the 60 deg. sector for the intermediate approach (to join the outbound track of the approach procedure straight-in, not holding) you can diverge to intercept a track within the 60 deg sector. Does this still apply, as I couldn't find anything else in the AIP that says this is still acceptable?

Question 2) In relation to notifying ATC of emergency fuel situation. With the recent changes in AIP, of which I am no expert on. I had a similar question to the one below in my recent IREX exam and wanted to clarify the correct answer.

Your arrive at your destination aerodrome, which requires 30 minutes holding fuel for traffic, and 30 minutes holding fuel due to weather. Your nearest alternative is 45 mins away. You are carrying 30 minutes holding, and fixed reserve of 45 minutes. What do you do?

a) Inform ATC you can hold but if the weather deteriorates you require priority to land.
b) Declare a fuel emergency to ATC
c) continue to hold
d) fly to your alternative

Answer is option ‘b’ as you would not land with your fixed reserve intact if you had to hold the full 30 minutes for weather and 30 for traffic??

Question No 1. You will find the reference in AIP ENR 1.5 para 2.7.3.

Question No 2. You wont find a specific reference to this one, it's a matter of interpreting the 'spirit' of the rules. If you find yourself in CTA and are unable to comply with the requirements of ATC, one option would be to declare an emergency. I guess you could simply tell ATC that you are fuel critical and require an amended clearance, but in that case they would most likely come back with, "are you declaring an emergency".

Thanks Bob, for the answers most appreciated.

The second one is a bit of a doosy. In practice yeah you would notify them you are fuel critical, and I guess under the new AIP references you would be declaring an emergency. I thought it a good one to post here to make others a bit more aware of that one as it sounds like it could be a typical question on the exam from others I have spoken to.