Originally Posted by edmundronald
Avianca 52 was written off as pilot miscommunication and lack of assertiveness, but nobody said that calling a fuel emergency may be a career buster if you are a third world pilot flying into NY, because your airline will get blamed for not carrying enough fuel for unlimited holds and then headquarters gets on your case and your career goes xxx. Cultural issues cut both ways.
Agreed, I have always felt the Avianca 52 crew were under a certain pressure to make it work with minimum of fuss.
However that does not relate to this incident as the Captain owned the airline so had no one really peering over his shoulder. Maybe that could be considered one of the root causes?