The more I read about this incident....the less it becomes a case of "Holes in the cheese" - more a case of one big hole of failiures.
1. The Range / Fuel issue. Seems a case of "Got away with it twice, but not thrice" - Ultimately, previous attempts did not involve holding.
2. Why the delay in announcing a fuel starvation issue? Why not announce an emergency immediately - Those crucial minutes could of changed everything?
3. Why the urge to "Get down" and have the gear down, causing drag? Obviously we don't have an accurate timeline...but the "gear down" seems to be early. I would of thought in a fuel starved situation this would be the least of your concerns - in fact, unless approaching an airfield, would gear up not have been preferred for a terrain landing? Also - at the height they were - surely Altitude buys you time to calculate and plan. Once it's gone, you aren't getting it back.
Also - someone familiar on type. Surely this issue presented itself over a period of time - so alarm bells should have been ringing. I cannot imagine all 4 engines having a simultanious flame out? So is there actually a possibility that the crew, knowing they were marginal, ignored the fact one (Some) of the engines were shutdown?
It reads like the worst chain of events in aviation I have seen in a long time. Not only that, it seems that fate gave them multiple bites at the cherry to "Save" the situation and at each and every step, the obvious was not done.
Last edited by RiSq; 30th Nov 2016 at 15:45.
Reason: Mobile phone typo fails.