People PLEASE stop talking about dumping fuel. Pilots only dump fuel when above maximum landing weight, generally if there is a problem near the start of the flight! Not at the end of a flight near the edge of the plane's endurance. Even them, in a severe emergency pilots will just get it down and land above max weight. Narrow bodies dont generally even have fuel dump capability.
To add some local info (I live in Medellin) the weather last night was fairly vile and has been in general for a good couple of months, the wet season has been very strong, and long, this year.
If they (speculation) genuinely did take it to the limit with fuel planning that would have been extremely risky as you could easily be down an alley with nowhere to go if weather conditions weren't favourable. Colombian domestics carry a lot of reserve for holding and enough to get back to origin at this time of year - quite interesting watching on FR24 when the weather is bad in Bogota. You cannot rely on getting into your destination.
It hasn't been collaborated but someone on the 'other' forum mentioned that a vivacolombia flight called an emergency after attempting takeoff just before this one was due to land. If true that could explain having to hold with a bad fuel situation...not a good place to be.
Last edited by neila83; 29th Nov 2016 at 21:49.