Citation Excel (C560XL)
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness; Time Pressure
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Flight Crew Diverted; Flight Crew Landed As Precaution
Human Factors; Procedure
When we were ready for departure we called clearance for confirmation of squawk and we were told to contact Ground. Ground told us to standby so they could check the routing; so after about 15 min he came back and told us to contact Clearance again and come back with engines started. We were both in the cockpit listening to the reroute. I cannot recall that a final altitude was given; nor read back. We loaded the new clearance in the box and iPad but somehow forgot to check the mileage (which is something I always do). The takeoff was uneventful and eventually we were given clearance to climb to 8;000 feet. We were flying for about 10 minutes when we asked for higher altitude. ATC denied our request and as a matter of fact told us to descend to 6;000 feet. We both knew then that we were never going to make it with legal fuel to destination; so we made an executive decision to divert to ACY. We did send the company a message but we were not able to give them a call since the Wi-Fi doesn't work below 10;000 feet. We landed in ACY with 2;800 LBS of fuel.In hindsight even if we did climb to 16;000 feet we could not have made the flight without eating some of the reserve fuel. Normally I always check the mileage from the clearance with what is on the flight plan and I always mark it on the flight plan but somehow this slipped through the cracks and I do take full responsibility for that.However I do think that clearance should warn the crew if there is a significant change in the reroute and also that a specific flight is flown at an unusual altitude. Who expects to fly 400 Nm at 6000 ft??? Our reroute went from 253 Nm to 402 Nm. For every reroute I get from now on I will double check the mileage and fuel and altitude against the flight plan.
Today we had a ferry [flight.] We prepped the aircraft; got our clearance via PDC (as filed) and we contacted Clearance Delivery with our squawk number as instructed by PDC. Clearance said to contact Ground for engine start. We knew there were delays in the area due to weather so at this time we thought we were moving along nicely. We even discussed our minimum fuel just in case we would receive a long ground stop. We called Ground for engine start; they told us to standby. We waited for approximately 15 minutes or so. Then Ground came back and said that engine start is approved; call clearance on another radio and to get back to him with our engines running. I called clearance back and I expected a small change to our clearance. What I did not expect was to get a completely new full route clearance. I copied the clearance; we put it in the iPads and FMS; and did the verification. We started the engines; and departed shortly after. Once airborne; we leveled off at 6;000 feet; and our multiple requests for higher were denied. We then realized that we would never make [our destination] with our fuel load. We were planned with 3;400 LBS [of] fuel; at 16;000 feet and to land with 1;889 LBS left on the fuel. We left with 3;500 LBS and 3;400 LBS at takeoff. But at 6;000 feet and with this new route we did not have enough fuel for [our destination]. We pulled power back to save some fuel. And before we could inform ATC of the reason why; they inquired. After we told them that we would not make it to [our destination] they told us that we accepted the 6;000 foot altitude and otherwise we would still be on the ground. The Wi-Fi did not work below 10;000 feet so we could not call dispatch to discuss our options. We were very close to ACY so we made the decision to divert into ACY for a fuel stop. I managed to quickly send off a message to the company to inform them of our decision. Once on the ramp we immediately called dispatch to advise them of our location. The fuel load upon landing in ACY was more than sufficient; 2;800 LBS.I take full responsibility for this incident; because yes; we did take off with not enough fuel for the trip. However; there were some traps here that we walked into without realizing it. The fact that we got a new full route clearance after being given permission to start engines was unexpected. I do not recall reading back the new altitude; and if I did; we both never caught on to it. Since we never briefed that and we both listened to this new clearance. We followed all procedures by putting it into the FMS and EFBs; and then we never caught on to the fact that this route was longer than the original. ACY approach stated that we would have been kept on the ground had we not accepted the 6;000 feet altitude had me concerned. Because ATC should have asked us if we were able to accept a re-route that is so out of the way and at such a low altitude; instead of just immediately starting to spit out a new clearance that had me scrambling to write it down. Again; we should have caught it; but I feel we could have been given a heads up on this. The original filed and received clearance was a total of 256 miles and the new clearance was 402 miles. A huge difference. This is a lesson learned because if I ever find myself in a situation like this I will pay more attention to the distance and the potential for an insufficient fuel load. I am glad though we made the decision to divert so quickly before we got to a point where we had to declare minimum fuel.
CE560XL flight crew reports receiving a reroute from Clearance Delivery after already receiving a clearance via PDC. The crew accepts the reroute and departs then discovers that the new route 150 NM longer and the flight will be held at 6;000 feet for the entire flight. The crew elects to divert for fuel.