Passenger Jet nearly Runs Out of Fuel in thunderstorm Multiple go arounds

The beginning of their troubles is heard on the Memphis approach feed. They talked about needing to divert to either Little Rock or Huntsville. They didn't want to go back through the line of storms they had already come through once to get to Little Rock but the headwinds would be very strong to get to Huntsville, increasing fuel burn.

The Fuel Margin Became the Problem

ended up diverting to HSV after holding due to weather. They were running on empty on approach into Huntsville. It was so close that at one point they were considering going to Decatur which is small general aviation airport only 10 miles from HSV

The difficulty was not simply the presence of thunderstorms. The crew had to choose between diversion options with different weather and fuel consequences. Little Rock would have required the crew to cross back through weather they had already encountered, while the route toward Huntsville involved strong headwinds and therefore greater fuel consumption.

After holding and evaluating the weather, the flight continued toward Huntsville. By the time the aircraft was approaching the destination, the remaining fuel margin had become the dominant concern. The crew even considered Decatur, a smaller airport much closer to Huntsville, as an additional escape option.

The recording describes weather avoidance, diversion, holding, a worsening fuel situation and the eventual arrival at Huntsville. It does not identify a verified registration, crew identity or exact fuel quantity.

the record identifies the flight as ASQ4698 and places the event in November 2015. The crew was dealing with thunderstorms and had to compare two diversion choices while fuel burn continued to rise.

On approach the fuel situation became sufficiently serious that the crew considered Decatur, a smaller airport only about ten miles from Huntsville. The available source does not provide a verified registration or exact remaining fuel quantity, so neither is supplied.

The flight reached Huntsville without a crash. The recording does not give an exact fuel-on-board figure or a final investigative finding.

The crews concern about crossing the storm line again and the increased fuel burn associated with the Huntsville headwinds are both directly stated in contemporary reporting. Those facts explain why the diversion options narrowed as the flight continued.

Accident Facts

Timeline

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