When Low Fuel Becomes No Fuel

One of the most famous and tragic of fuel-exhaustion crashes occurred on Jan. 25, 1990. Upon arrival in the New York area after a flight from Bogot, the 707 was placed into a hold for an hour and 27 minutes due to fog at JFK. The pilots were not native English speakers and never used the actual word emergency in describing their fuel situation to ATC, using only minimum fuel instead and never stating their fuel state in minutes. During that time, they burned away all the fuel they needed to make Boston, their alternate.

Editorial Staff

Wednesday, December 03, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A 1990 Avianca flight crashed, killing 73, after exhausting fuel during holding due to fog and pilots' failure to clearly communicate their critical fuel state.
In a contrasting 1983 incident, an Air Canada 767 ran out of fuel due to a metric/imperial measurement error but was safely glided to an emergency landing by the captain, avoiding serious injury.
These events underscore the importance of precise fuel management, clear emergency communication, and pilot expertise in preventing and responding to fuel exhaustion.

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One of the most famous and tragic of fuel-exhaustion crashes occurred on Jan. 25, 1990. Upon arrival in the New York area after a flight from Bogot, the 707 was placed into a hold for an hour and 27 minutes due to fog at JFK. The pilots were not native English speakers and never used the actual word “emergency” in describing their fuel situation to ATC, using only “minimum fuel” instead and never stating their fuel state in minutes. During that time, they burned away all the fuel they needed to make Boston, their alternate.