Date: 201809
Local time of day: 0601-1200
Location: ZZZ.TRACON, US
Flight conditions: IMC
Light: Daylight
Aircraft: EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Cruise
ATC / advisory: TRACON ZZZ
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Pilot Not Flying; Check Pilot; Captain
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine
Human factors: Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness; Time Pressure
Anomaly: Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Diverted; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Contributing factors: Airport; Weather; Human Factors
Primary problem: Ambiguous

Narrative: Reaching our intended destination ZZZ; the weather was reported close to approach minimums for ILS 9R. Because of only single runway in use; arrivals were being given extensive delaying vectors; our flight included. During this time; I checked the weather for our filed alternate ZZZ1; our secondary alternate ZZZ2 and ZZZ3 since we had just flown over that area on the arrival. ZZZ1 was well below minimums for an approach; ZZZ2 was VFR and ZZZ3 was pretty much CAVU. The fuel burn to ZZZ2; our most distant alternate was calculated at 1459lbs. During the vectoring delays; I decided on my BINGO fuel to be 3400 lbs in case a diversion became necessary. When our turn came to shoot the approach we were still above this number. My trainee who was on his second OE (Operational Experience) trip with [the company] and his 10th leg total was flying the approach. Upon reaching minimums; the runway environment was not in sight and a missed approach was executed. After the missed approach and being vectored around; our fuel was now at approximately 3200 lbs; below my desired BINGO fuel. Just to add some background; my personal comfort zone is to land with at least 2000 lbs in order to deal with any unforeseen contingencies. Knowing that my 1st alternate ZZZ1 was well below minimums and that the fuel burn to my 2nd alternate ZZZ2 would put me below my comfortable reserve of 2000 lbs; I requested several times from Dispatch a fuel burn calculation for a diversion to ZZZ3. The response I received from my dispatcher can only be described as uncooperative and smart aleck. The dispatcher refused to provide me a fuel burn calculation to ZZZ3 after 2 requests. Knowing that ZZZ3 and ZZZ2 are approximately equidistant from ZZZ and that an ATC clearance to ZZZ2 often requires an extensive detour to the west and that flights to ZZZ3 are often cleared almost direct; I chose the safest course of action for the situation that we were in and diverted to ZZZ3.This flight was put into this situation after a missed approach in ZZZ and requests for assistance were made to Dispatch. The primary cause was a lack of any cooperation from my dispatcher during a very high workload situation. I was conducting OE with a new hire FO (First Officer) during a very busy time; a missed approach had just been conducted; we had gone below our BINGO fuel and a diversion needed to be planned. The error that I committed during this high workload time; was that I omitted to provide Dispatch our current fuel on board. However; despite my omission; I think it's pretty clear that the dispatcher was annoyed and inconvenienced with my predicament and requests. Instead of providing the information that I requested; the dispatcher instead decided to throw obstacles in my way. First by not providing the information requested and next by purposefully trying to suck me into playing 20 questions via ACARS with unhelpful answers to my requests. From my perspective my decision to divert to ZZZ3 had not been part of the game plan for this dispatcher and since there was no desire from the dispatcher to adapt to the changing situation; there would be no assistance given to our flight.




Synopsis: ERJ145 captain reported reaching a critical fuel state due to deteriorating weather conditions at the destination airport; and subsequent difficulty finding a suitable alternate.