The Chapecoense Disaster - LaMia Flight 2933
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- Опубликовано: 22 май 2024
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LaMia Flight 2933 was a charter flight of an Avro RJ85, operated by LaMia, on 28 November 2016 
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The silence of no engines is terrifying, what a preventable tragedy.
This has to be one of the stupidest crashes ever. No technical problems, good weather, just sheer incompetence and neglect!
The chick in Bolivia got my read immediately: she just rattled something off without checking first. But the blame is on the pilot. He should have said he needed a refueling stop because destination was beyond the aircraft's range, and she would have come to reality and arranged it. The second mistake was noted in the official report, late notification of the critical fuel situation. A more aggressive and alert pilot might have throttled w-a-y back at 28,000 and semi-glided down as far as he could, nursing the fuel as much as possible. Socialism strikes again: a passive attitude. People who think being "strong, silent, uncomplaining, disciplined, and routine" is "socially correct", as if everything were a Tweet ... I have learned to steer clear of them because underneath that silence is uncertainty.
Dave Smith that is quite simply the dumbest thing I’ve read in a good long while. You would appear to know a very little about planes, less about socialism, even less about South American politics and nothing whatsoever about rational argument.
David Moore This is why I won’t ride on planes. We’re too high up in the air for that dumb shit.
@@davesmith5656 I agree with you . These countries are a disaster and I never seen a more half assed flight ! These clowns even beat the Asians . Delayed to get a video game ? And those controllers ! God help us , I just hope President Trump did'nt get here too late
@@AdamHarveyMusic - You and the loudmouths above - I don't see any argument at all in any of your insulting and vacant "comments". Any goofball can roll off bad names he's heard and parrot "You're wrong!!" with no sense at all of what he's saying, and no effort at all to make contact with any reality other than his own isolated excuse for a world. Go take a cold shower, lamebrain.
That poor fuel planning is just unforgivable and infuriating, it's not like there aren't rules and regulations for that. ICAO regulations state that you need enough fuel for, taxi, takeoff, trip, landing, missed approach, the trip to alternate, circling for 30 min + contingency which is 5% of trip fuel. They just ignored it all, hoped for the best and paid for there negligence with there lives and that of innocent passengers...
I watched a documentary on this once. The airline was notorious for cutting costs by not fueling planes adequately. Despite the other factors, that one came out after this incident.
And that’s during the day. Here at night they need 45 min. No excuse for this to happen
That poor controller. Given an impossible task she was efficient and professional, even when she lost their radar she tried to estimate vectors.
A shame it was totally preventable.
Every crash is...
@@harryscrotum007 Not every flight, shit happens! Hindsight is 20:20.
@@drteeth7054 how is every crash not preventable? Has their been a plane to spontaneously combust or magically vaporize before? Every crash is preventable...
@@harryscrotum007 Well that's stating the obvious. But in reality sometimes shit does just happen. Go ask Captain Sully about that.
Given the reckless and irresponsible disposition by the airline and crew, it was more like inevitable. It´s a standard requirement for the aircraft to have enough fuel to reach the destination plus for the possible deviation to another designated airport plus another 30 minutes worth. These guys were just playing with fire and courting disaster. And a barrage of mistakes, violations and oversights to boot; totally scandalous.
Chapecoense was also declared champion of Copa Sudamericana 2016. It was one of the saddest days ever here in Brazil (and i guess in Colombia).
I know right... even worse they came up from serie b to a and looked stronger that season then all the other teams in our league.. If they would've landed they probably would've won anyway.
Regular national heroes I guess. Pfffft. Bunch of goddamn soccer players, who cares?
MauricioPc Channel is the best
Sparky max bro they were in low L4 which is low level for other team but they worked so hard in 5 years to get upper level. That’s why they should earn some respect and same thing for other people who died.
Sparky max you’re a true piece of shit
Man, i remember that like yesterday. Medellín (where i live) went silent for almost a week! Normaly in my city do the "alborada" (that is made in the night of the 1st of december, they trow a lot of fireworks) it was the 1st time in almost two decades that the whole city went silent, and how forget the memorial in the stadium, was full just 15 mins after the doors opened to the public, how sad and mindblowing was that...
Hey Pablo what's up with the cocaine buissnes?
@@claasnorden9909 That's the most disrespectful comment I've read in a while.
@@manuelbonet i know the guys from Cali make some trubble but your Time will come
SantiGoma • Wow. I imagine that nobody really wanted to play after what happened. I know I wouldn’t.
Me too, I live in Brazil and I recieved the news from whatsapp, I thought it was fake news but it was from the most famous news website in Brazil
The moral of this tragedy is NEVER, EVER, pass up a chance to refuel along the way!!!
It's one of the rules of urban living. 1. Always pee when available. 2. Never buy more than you can carry. 3. Never pass up a chance to refuel.
or don't wait to request a priority landing when you have low fuel and you were already put in a holding pattern.
That costs extra money due to the extra fuel used in landing and taking off, plus the extra time for ground crews and flight crews. Certainly in this case it was boneheaded not to stop for fuel since they could only spare a few miles of flight, but it would be understandable for the airline to discourage stopping "just in case".
While I agree with the culpability of the all parties mentioned (quite a few) ultimately, the flight crew is the last line of safety. They should have refused to fly higher than FL28. They should have insisted on refueling at Bogota. They should have declared an emergency. Nothing was done until it was too late.
Fabien Brunner but his decision ended up being more expensive
And that’s what gets folks killed. When any of us get on a plane, we’re assuming the pilots know how to get us safely where we’re going. RIP these innocent young lives who had so much to live for!
They probably flew at 30,000 feet to save fuel. In fact, that's probably the only reason they made it as far as they did.
@@CallMeBrunner And he was trying to avoid a fine
they can't refuse ATC ORDERS
2 miles of fuel buffer is plain incompetence and neglect. I also don't understand the holding pattern they requested, so they could burn even more fuel!?
Packetattack actually they had to hold for some weather.
@@harrisonofcolorado8886 Got it, thank you!
They should have declared an emergency and then they wouldn't have to be held in a holding pattern. ATC will NOT give priority unless you declare an emergency, or pilots would take advantage of requesting priority.
Being considerably overweight also contributed to more fuel being used on the flight. Also, remember they said that they flew higher than they should have been flying.
That too. There were so many factors.
They were almost safely on the ground, such a shame all those young lives wasted, there were big mistakes made here as well, you could almost feel that pilots fear, he knew he wasn't going to make it.These videos are very tense but unmissable...Thank you.
ballinacrossrose they weren't even close. The last working engine powered off and they were at a considerable altitude (9,000 feet) and 8 miles from the runway -- the captain knew they were doomed when he reported his fuel was depleted. Really incredible this happened in 2016 when the pilots had all the data on remaining fuel.
bianchi1885..I have to agree, that Pilot made a big mistake by not having his plane refuelled. The pilot was in touch with ATC who were guiding this plane Down, that's what I meant when I said they were almost safely on ground.I know they were 8 miles away, for an aircraft that doesn't seem that far but for this stricken aircraft it was a case of so near yet so far.
These pilots suffered from "get-there-itis."
@@felinagrimm7538 Yes, thats a fair comment.
Unfortunately, many accidents happened for that reason. They want to get there ASAP (especially in this case, because it was a soccer team) and end up with tunnel vision.
Mistake 1- not stopping for gas
Mistake 2- entering a gold on bingo fuel
Mistake 3- lowering he gear too early
A preventable tragedy that took great lives.
By the way, I have a copy of Fifa 17 and I love that they did a tribute to the players
Declaring an Emergency was their last hope and it was lost on this crew.
You can't lower the gear or extend flaps on an Avro 146 without engines running to power the hydraulic system. They knew the fuel was almost gone so they did it while they still could. All 4 engines failed shortly thereafter.
Mistake 4- flying above 28000 ft
Mistake 5- wasting fuel while some brat retrieves a video game.
Mistake 6- cargo over by 880lbs.
And I’m sure there’s more!
@@rozycantsay3587 How about this one?
Having a flight crew member who also happens to be the co-owner of the airline.
Some boy had to have his video game to play with, even if it delayed the flight? No stopping for refueling? Omg.
I remember hearing about this crash with the football team on board. I am so glad you have finally shown what actually happened. Every crash when even one passenger or crew member is killed or badly injured is tragic but this particular one gutted me. It happened 2 days before my daughter and her netball team were due to fly from South Africa to tour Australia. I have never feared flying or being concerned about any of my family flying but I felt literally ill, when I said goodbye to her. RIP
This is just infuriating. Two experienced pilots take off knowing that they have flight planned for the very limit of their fuel range, that the plane is overweight, then accept a holding pattern (all pilots could have refused to accept it and be given emergency clearance). I recall reading shortly after this crash that the plane had not been fully "topped off" fully at Viru VIru Santa Cruz, an airport I have been through several times.
NOT to dump on Bolivia from USA, another tragic flight had 73 people DIE when the plane ran out of fuel circling a foggy airport in New York area. Avianca 52 crashed in a holding pattern 90 minutes after arriving from Bogota Columbia.
Guy Guyguy • I remember that one. The pilot monitoring and doing the radio did not communicate how serious the situation was. The pilot flying kept asking if they understood they were about out of fuel, and the copilot kept saying yes but he never declared an emergency. I think that’s what happened, if memory serves.
I remember this happening, it was such a tragedy. The excitement of the team before taking off and whilst in the air only added to the tragedy. So many factors came together to cause this terrible accident, and I am sure that no amount of money could have made up for the loss to family and friends. Thank you for posting.
Such a tragic story, the fact that it was easily preventable makes a disaster all the more distasteful.... rest in peace
You know, I was honestly just thinking that I could do with some X Pilot content. Thanks for making these!
Another great video. Excellent content.
That flight was a disaster waiting to happen...
But it’s always good for at least a couple of people to survive since they can provide accurate reports of what happened. Better seven than none.
A few details and corrections:
1. Chapecoense was traveling to the first leg of South American cup final.
2. Chapecoense initially wanted to fly directly from Guarulhos (São Paulo, Brazil) to Medellín, with LaMia. This flight was not authorized by brazilian authorities stating that, by regulations, this flight could only be operated by a Brazilian or Colombian company.
3. The pilot Quiroga was also one of Lamia’s owners. In order to cut costs he often made flights without refueling and near the aircraft’s full range. His company was often hired to fly for high profile South American teams, including Argentina’s national squad.
4. After the crash, Atletico Nacional forfeited its participation in the final, effectively awarding the title to Chapecoense. In the day the first leg should be played, Atletico Nacional promoted a massive event at the stadium to honor the victims.
As champions of Libertadores, Atletico Nacional faced off with Chapecoense months later in the Recopa Sudamericana. Atletico won both legs.
5. Brazilian clubs, in face of the tragedy, offered Chapecoense immunity from relegation for three years. Chapecoense refused. This year should be the final year of immunity, but Chapecoense is next to last in the standings and mathematically relegated. It will be very hard for Chapecoense, as a very tiny club in Brazil, to regain first division status again.
6. One of the Brazilian survivors, journalist Rafael Henzel, passed away in 2019 due to a heart attack after playing soccer with friends.
Wing back Alan Ruschel resumed his playing career and left Chapecoense for Goiás (mid tier first division club). Center back Neto is still in Chapecoense and still rehabbing in order to resume playing. Spare Goal-keeper Follmann lost a leg in the crash, effectively ending his footballing career. He works as an embassador for Chapecoense, as a commentator for Fox Sports (a company that lost workers in the tragedy) and he is singing in a brazilian reality show, making a touching tribute to his former teammates at the third anniversary of the crash. Two bolivian crew members also survived the crash. This info is of december 2019
Love watching your videos they always have me in suspense. Thank you for your time you put into these videos.
Love your passion, i watched every single video you made, thank you.
As a car driver, I refuel at a minimum of 30 miles before empty, and that isn't a life and death situation. Trained pilots should know better than this. It's totally unacceptable to allow no margin for weather, delays, holding patterns, missed approaches etc. Amazing video, thank you X Pilot. I find your videos better than the TV documentaries.
i fill up when im needle red on empty with warnings and the trip computer with ---- :)
@@pacmanzz Well you're just too badass to refuel like normal people :)
Thanks for putting the plane details/date in the description! Another great video!
Thanks for the video, I was searching for this in your channel for ever! I can't believe what had happened!
Such nonchalant, ho hum incompetance. There was no sense of urgency to get refueled or for the controller to get the plane on the ground quickly. The pilots flew it out of fuel with little worry...unbelievable!
Great video with plenty of information.
Looking forward to your next video
I was waiting for this video a long time ago...it was really a shame. I live near to zone where plane crash. Regards form Medellín.
OSCAR JULIAN GUTIERREZ
How do you like the area?
@@jefftX It's a great area, google Guatape, I lived there 3 months, pretty laid back lifestyle, lots of collectivo-type travelling and in general I found that Colombians are awesome people.
@@jefftX I was actually living there when this plane crashed. I can remember some Colombians I was living with being so angry, how could a plane go down because it ran out of fuel.. I still have a copy of the newspaper the day after this accident happened.
@fuego1915
That’s pretty cool thanks for sharing
Absolutely crazy that there were survivors. That's unbelievable
yeah, six survivors
Almost 16 minutes? Shaking in excitement! Hope you kept today's passengers safe, X Pilot!
I expected them to all be dead from that; 6 survivors is incredible! RIP to the 71 unlucky souls :(
Nope. :-(
Guess being out of fuel is a very bad idea if you want to fly, but far from your worst option if you want to crash.
I've been waiting for someone to simulate this crash! Awesome video, thank you!
These sequences of events were all independently avoidable. Eliminating any one or two of these issues could averted this disaster
I remember sitting in a lecture and seeing this pop up on reddit and I just sat there and wept as quietly as I could (I was in the back). I dont have any connection to the team but I know so many did. It broke my heart
There should be a series of low fuel warnings, beeps, and lights long before actually running out.
Really enjoy your channel! Excellent videos!
Another great video, keep it up!
I can't believe so many lives were lost due to these irresponsible people not getting fuel!!!!
This is just horrible. Fuel. 😢
X Pilot - I love your videos and your attention to detail. 💜
Love your videos, keep it up!
Greetings from Vienna
Man I don't even give my car a 2 mile fuel buffer. When my range gets near 30 miles, I refuel. And I can just pull over if I run out.
Details, details. Really sad.
Soy de Medellín, también hincha del Atlético Nacional, recuerdo los hechos como si fueran ayer, sin duda algo que te deja marcado, algo muy pero muy difícil de superar... Saludos
Especially considering the weather and always the possibility of delays, not stopping for fuel was simply inexcusable.
A very sensitive and respectful film. So tragic and yet frustrating - difficult to believe this happened recently. Almost seemed like it happened in the early days of airline travel
The stupidity is mind boggling, it’s not like you can fill ‘er up at the corner gas station at 30,000 feet.
The pilots did not make clear their situation. I would have been "Honey, we are OUT of fuel and we are GLIDER PILOTS" at night. We NEED VECTORS; screw those other planes..tell them to climb and hold. Stupid accident caused by incompetence.
@@willzimjohn Pilot: "No one will notice. No one will notice. No one will notice. Oops, hit mountain."
I'm utterly speechless😳!
Love your channel!
Well done video as always👌
The pilots could easily have shut down one engine to conserve fuel. They could also have declared a fuel emergency and asked for immediate landing instead of holding. The pilots could have remained high, not used the speed brakes, and coasted to the airport.
The pilot was a owner of the Lamia. He didn't that coz he doesn't want to be investigated or fined his plane. That's why he didn't call for mayday. That's greediness.
Other thing is... He didnt want to refuel in Bogota coz he has to pay to land in other airport... Totally greediness
@@zampieritto Further investigations revealed that LaMia itself was in financial trouble, with 2 of the other RJ85s grounded and CP-2933 being the only one they could fly.
I was waiting for this video since it happened
Why didn’t they insist on the fuel stop?
Because the pilots had "get-there-itis" and wanted to get to Medellin ASAP because they were flying the soccer team. It's not an excuse, though. They already wasted 20 minutes on the ground pre-flight and wasted precious fuel. Not to mention that the plane didn't have the range to get there without making a fuel stop.
If you put yourself in their shoes, simply going with the clearance was the easier thing to do, rather than request a amended clearance for a fuel stop. Obviously a very bad call, but the human error to go with the flow is understandable.
Samuel Golden , call me a worrier but the knowledge that the flight was the same as the max range of the aircraft would have me shitting bricks the whole way, but I’m not a pilot.
Unacceptable. They should have known the limits of the airplane.
@@bobrobert1123 Absolutely. Performance figures for aircraft are defined in perfect conditions, flown by a very experienced test pilots. So, in the real world they are not to be trusted with that much precision.
One of the saddest days of my life. It was almost 2 years. =(
Great video again
What a completely preventable accident. First off, if Mr. Average has left his "toy" in the baggage hold it stays there until he can get it back in baggage reclaim on the ground. 2nd if my car has enough fuel to get me 100 miles and the nearest refill point is 90 miles leaving only a 10 mile safety barrier I make damn sure I fill up halfway in case of delays.
Incompetent crew and incompetent planning. What a tragic waste of young lives. I hope someone went to jail because of this, if they didn't, then someone really should have done
Really well done!!
Kind of snobby how Flight was late because some one on the teamWanted a video game
Sure, but to be fair though, it's not like they understood the repercussions.
Shocking that someone with money and power was snobby. /s
It's common sense that the plane is going to be wasting fuel, the longer the engines keep running on the ground. They should have understood the repercussions.
@@felinagrimm7538 Once again; sure, but I highly doubt they thought it would force the plane to be running on fumes though. If that was the case, an attendant or ground worker would've surely stopped them.
Couldn't they just have fueled the plane while they looked for that thing though.....
Laaaaamiaaaaa! Love this channel.
Yeah, kind of hard to have a fire or explosion without explosive fuel in the plane.
I love these videos
Vamos Chape! 💚 😭
3:14 "They decide to crash before reaching their destination rather than stop to refuel"
I can see some similarities in this crash to Avianca 052, but nonetheless, it was a nice video. Very indepth and I love it.
here the controllers did not pose any problem, all delays were at the pilots request....
the only mistake on the ATCs part was giving an incorrect clearance, which they probably assumed was right since it was what the pilots would logically want.
Great job on this video! Do the Tenerife disaster next!
There are many RUclips videos already posted about this Tenerife disaster, enough to make any further video posts about it meaningless.
So many things wrong on so many levels. RIP these precious young souls who had so much to live for.
I'm flying tomorrow. Why did I choose today of all days to start binging on your videos? Now I'm scared:(
Really well done
I guess that video game was worth it.
I bet the pilot had a lot of prior experience pushing his car into a gas station...
korbitr/CWINDOWSsystem32 well said!
So the pilot filed a plan with higher than normal altitude to save fuel and avoid a refueling. That simple, and sad.
Hopefully these videos will teach and remind the aviation community valuable lessons. But I see repeat mistakes. For example, sadly, Airbus refuses to alter their control stick design or add impossible to miss alerts that the copilot is cancelling out the pilots inputs.
I wonder how much closer to the runway they would have been if they weren't overweight and the landing gear had not been deployed so early.
Should have declared an emergency and stated the problem clearly, not this "fuel problem" bullshit, and it should've been stated much earlier, so that ATC was aware. I was a fan of that Chapecoense team. I used a selfie taken by Danilo Padiha (goalkeeper) with Alan Ruschel (defender) as my profile pic on Facebook for a long time afterwards. Danilo survived the crash but died later. Alan underwent spinal surgery not otherwise specified, and I don't know what the outcome of that was. Jakson Folman (reserve keeper) had one of his legs amputated. It was reported at the time (2016-Dec-1) he might lose his remaining foot. Helio Zemper Nieto (defender) sustained trauma to his skull, thorax, and lungs. All these footballers were in intensive care at an unnamed hospital(s). Other survivors were Ximina Suarez (flight attendant), Erwin Timiri (flight technician), and Raphael Henzel (journalist). I don't know anything other than they survived the crash. Lives snuffed out in their prime, full of promise and talent, along with those there to support them. AND FOR WHAT??
Thumbs up for X Pilot!
Request: China Airlines Flight 611
I was taught to always have enough fuel to fly to an alternate airport if the original destination was not open. Sounds like these pilots took off with insufficient fuel to make the trip without the refueling stop but then by not making the refueling stop they condemned themselves. What if Medellin had been closed and they had to divert? These fools killed themselves and most of the crew and passengers; they disobeyed a cardinal rule. They had one last chance and that was to immediately declare an emergency and get the plane on the ground; no delays should have been permitted. They communicated to the ATC too late. This is just plain maddening and painful hear.
Absolutely shocking, this disaster should never have happened. Cowboy airlines putting lives at risk by taking on minimal fuel to save money. Although this plane bizarrely didn't land in Bogota to re-fuel. I cannot understand why any pilot would chance he would have enough when it was very clear he may not. If the plane hadn't had to hold for 15m, it would have had enough, but any pilot would know holding was a possibility. 10 days after the crash a report by American media company Univision, using data from the Flightradar24 website, claimed that the airline had broken the fuel and loading regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization on 8 of its 23 previous flights since 22 August. This included two direct flights from Medellín to Santa Cruz: one on 29 October transporting Atlético Nacional to the away leg of their Copa Sudamericana semi-final, and a flight without passengers on 4 November. The report claimed the 8 flights would have used at least some of the aircraft's mandatory fuel reserves (a variable fuel quantity to allow for an additional 45mns of flying time), concluding the company was accustomed to operating flights at the limit of the RJ85's endurance. Football/sports clubs need to start investigating their team and players mode of transport (as do the public). Emiliano Sala's plane sadly was a death trap with a staggeringly abysmal safety record including many recent fatal crashes.
Love it used it for a project!
Great video as usual.
May I request the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv disaster?
$165k paid to each victims family? What a joke. Gross negligence here. If that was my family on that flight you can keep the money and give me my loved ones back. Disgusting!
Some people really deserve what's coming to them. How you can you fly without fuel???? I would INSIST on stopping for fuel or declare an emergency straightaway!! Crazy!!!!
It was a huge and very sad event here in South
America it was one of the finalist of the second most important football event in the continent. i was casually gaming in the night when a friend send me a link that the plane was missing for 2 hours. at this moment i knew it was very bad news.
How do you get the nighttime environment so dark?
Why didn't they run the APU, especially when the first engines were flaming out? I'm not a pilot and the actual flight crew has pilots, so I am hoping there was a good reason.
I would love to know why the survivors survived. Is it because of their seating? Or the way the plane crashed?
Both. All the survivors were seating in the back of the plane. The back of the plane separated from the rest, the moment it touched the ground, the other parts of the plane went downhill from the mountain, that's why nobody survived on there. But, there were more people was in the back of the plane who didnt survive. So, it's not really clearly how they survived.
@@AJ-pw8xg The rear is the safest place to sit as well as over the wings. NOT the front.
Very sad and and very preventable.
“You’re 8.2 miles from the runway”
Uh oh
Guess the drugs are more important than refueling. The drugs survived and were sold .. that's insanity
TERRIBLE DECISIONS BY CAPTAIN AND CREW TO DEPART WITH FUEL TO THE LIMIT, BAD WEATHER, NOT TAKING IN FACTORS OF HOLD PATTERNS AND OTHER AIRCRAFT PROBLEMS THAT MAY OCCUR. EVEN THE AIRPORT CLOSURE TIME. GODSPEED! La MIA FLIGHT 2933.
Can you change the font to the old basic one? This is hard to read fast.
Crazy that there were survivors! A massive tragedy that could have been prevented.
Also sounds like the airport did not have secondary radar which means they would not be able to see the aircraft height once their electrics failed
Tragic. I'm wondering why they didn't land at El Dorado to refuel. Poor planning is a major understatement.
Fire services called in for a plane that would never touch down, haunting.
Very often economic pressure imposed on flight crews by the airline's management can end in fatal accidents.
A fueling stop en route cost a lot of money. Unfortunately the captain decided in favor of money and risked everybody's life. Including his own.
The owner of this airline should be imprisoned for the rest of his life.
The owner of the airline was the captain, though.
@@toshiaki10419 That explains everything.
Really interesting case.
I agree, why lower the gear 20 miles out, do a hold pattern and would shutting down 2 of the 4 engines conserve fuel, seems a little obvious.
No RAM air for electricity? They were literally flying blind, and left it far too late to declare an emergency. Many mistakes that could have been prevented...the worst being the approval of the flight plan.
Yeah, what's with that? Why was there no RAM air turbine? Or even a backup generator?
i have a question could they turned off 2 engine and made it ?
How can u find out every second of the crashes like every action the pilots do... nice vid.
Fatal decision was not refueling. Period.
Tragic. I don't understand the actions of the pilots here though. You don't know where the runway is, you're way up at FL210, and your engines start flaming out from lack of fuel. At that point you should have plenty of glide distance, and yet they were burning as much energy as they could with the gear and speedbrake? If they had maintained best glideslope, maybe they would have had enough time to get oriented and aligned with the runway?
Though running out of fuel was certainly a large error, it seems like it was the response that doomed the flight.
Edit: Yes I know that on many aircraft, you cannot raise the gear without any engines functioning, and it is possible they missed their chance to do that. But still, it seems that they were thinking "get down now" before the engines started failing, assuming they could make it, but then never reevaluated that strategy when the engines failed.