Airlines running fuel margins thin

On Nov 8, 3:52 pm, wrote:
On Nov 8, 12:56 pm, wrote:

On Nov 8, 11:17 am, "Alistair Wright"
wrote:

Its only a matter of time before
they genuinely run one out of gas. from what i have found so far, i
can only find one genuine run out of gas previously, by a south
american airline headed to JFK.

United ran one dry near Portland, OR sometime in the late 1960s.

I think it's unlikely that anyone will run out in a domestic US
operation,
carrying 45 minutes of reserve fuel. Worst case: land short of the
destination, at an airport. The real issue is crossing the ocean.
This
does not include mismeasurement, fuel leaks, or the like.

I have an unattributed report from a former USAF pilot pal that a
sleeping crew flew a freighter past LAX and ran out of fuel on the way
back after a wake-up selcall. Glided in successfully. I've known air
crews to haul enough fuel to bypass expensive fuel stops for cheaper
options.

http://www.airsafe.com/events/noengine.htm has a few other out of fuel
events and power loss events.

Frank Whiteley