Avianca052

Synopsis of Accident:

On January 25, 1990, Avianca flight #052 enroute form Medellin, Colombia experienced fuel starvation while attempting to land at New York’s JFK International Airport. The flight had been placed into holding patterns three times, due to inclement weather, for a total of 89 minutes at various stages inbound. The majority of the blame fell upon the flight crew for failure to maintain adequate fuel and failure to declare an emergency situation with Air Traffic Control (ATC). They also failed to consult with an airline operational control dispatch facility to aid them in the management of their situation. Inadequate traffic flow management by ATC was also listed as a causal factor. Approximately ten minutes after a missed approach was executed, the Boeing 707 experienced a flame out of all four engines and crashed into a wooded area in Cove Neck, Long Island. Of 158 passengers and crew on board, 73 were killed.

Questions:

1) When should the crew have alerted ATC of the possibility of a fuel problem?

At approximately 2046 the first officer asked for priority from Air Traffic Control (ATC). ATC inquired about the crew’s alternate. The officer responded that their alternate was Boston but they would not make it on the fuel that they now had and it was exchanged that they could hold for another five minutes. While perhaps implied, a declaration of their exact fuel situation was not made and should have been at this point. Standard practice for Avianca pilots at the time was to ask for ‘priority’ in such situations rather than declaring an emergency, that an emergency is declared by using the phrase “minimum fuel” only when a quantity of 1000 pounds or less is reached. In such case this would signal a ‘real emergency’ and the plane would necessitate a number one assignment and an immediate landing clearance. It should be mentioned that the phrase “minimum fuel” was never used.

2) Why didn’t the crew consult...