Originally Posted by justageek
Keep in mind that the diversion happens well before the aircraft is "running on fumes." It happens at a point well before the aircraft has the minimum fuel to reach the alternate airport. (I think it's something like when there's only enough fuel to reach the alternate airport plus 30 minutes spare fuel after that.)
There is no requirement not to burn into reserves (the rules for international flights are much more complicated than the 30 minute VFR reserves for private pilots in the U.S.). Nor is there any reason that there would be something at an FAA site. There was simply no incident.
Simply because an airplane diverts does not mean it's all that low on fuel. We will divert at the point where the fuel to the alternate puts us at the minimum fuel we're comfortable landing with under the circumstances. Generally, that puts us on the ground at the alternate with somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes of fuel.
The fact that they couldn't hold simply means that they either didn't anticipate any delays, or that they burned more fuel enroute than expected.