MORE QUESTIONS TO ASK EMBRAER
It seems, the reason for the crash of that Bolivian aircraft in Colombia was because they ran out of fuel. The distance was beyond the range of that aircraft.
Just out of curiousity I had another look at the specifications and range of the Embraer 190 on the page of the manufacturer..
Standard 3426 km or 1850 nm
Long Range 4445 km or 2400 nm
Advanced Range 4537 km or 2450 nm
In the interview with Darrin Henry the Embraer pilots claimed this aircraft can fly nonstop from Cape Town to St. Helena and in case they cannot land on St. Helena they would still have enough fuel to deviate to Ascension and even back to the African mainland.
The distances
Cape Town - St. Helena 3139 km or 1695 nm
St. Helena - Ascension 1295 km or 699 nm
St. Helena . Walvis Bay 2261 km or 1221 nm
With additional mandatory fuel reserves deviating to Acension would be marginal at best. A deviation back to Africa not possible with any of the three versions mentioned above.
Embraer would have to explain why they think the aircraft could even return to Africa. Would it have to be an extraordinary special version with additional fuel tanks and what would the payload / number of passengers then be ?
While safety has top priority the number of passengers the aircraft can carry will have an effect on ticket prices.