Holding with fuel limitation

기상으로 홀딩이 길어지며 연료가 줄어드는 상황입니다. (Day 11이 MINIMUM/MAYDAY FUEL "용어"였다면, 오늘은 "언제 홀딩을 그만두고 접근·회항을 결정하느냐"가 핵심.) "~할 때쯤엔 이미 ~했다"를 말하니, 문법은 by the time 이에요.

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1. Scenario

I was the First Officer of HL123, holding at our destination because of weather and heavy traffic.

We held for a while, but the delay kept growing and our fuel was going down. By the time we had held for about fifteen minutes, our fuel was getting close to the point where we had to act.

We asked ATC for an expected approach time, and it was longer than our holding fuel allowed. So we told them we were unable to accept further holding and requested either an immediate approach or vectors to divert, whichever they could give us first.

They took us out of the holding pattern ahead of two other aircraft and cleared us for the approach straight away. We committed to landing here, knowing we still had our reserves.

We flew a normal approach and landed with our reserves intact, before the fuel became critical.

2. At a Glance

English — Holding for weather and traffic, the delay grew and our fuel kept dropping. The key is not the fuel words but the decision: work out how long you can still hold, and before you run too low, tell ATC you are "unable to accept further holding" and ask for an approach now or vectors to divert. We did that in time and landed with our reserves intact.

한국어 — 기상·트래픽으로 홀딩 중 지연이 길어지고 연료가 계속 줄었습니다. 핵심은 연료 "용어"가 아니라 판단 — 얼마나 더 홀딩할 수 있는지 계산하고, 너무 낮아지기 전에 ATC에 "unable to accept further holding"이라 알리고 즉시 접근 또는 회항 벡터를 요청하는 것. 제때 결정해 예비 연료를 남긴 채 착륙했습니다.

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3. Key Verbs

hold

뜻: 체공·대기하다

• We held at our destination because of weather.
• We could not hold much longer with our fuel.

calculate

뜻: 계산하다

• We calculated our remaining holding time.
• We calculated how long we could stay before diverting.

accept

뜻: 수용하다

• We could not accept any more delay.
• We told ATC we were unable to accept further holding.

commit

뜻: (~하기로) 확정하다

• We committed to landing at this airport.
• Once we committed, we did not want extra delay.

request

뜻: 요청하다

• We requested an approach without delay.
• We requested vectors to divert if needed.

decide

뜻: 결정하다

• We decided we could not hold any longer.
• We decided to leave the hold in time.

advise

뜻: 알리다

• We advised ATC of our fuel situation.
• We advised that we were unable to accept further holding.

monitor

뜻: 계속 확인하다

• We monitored our fuel closely while holding.
• We monitored how the delay was growing.

reduce

뜻: 줄이다

• The holding reduced our remaining fuel.
• Our margin reduced with every turn in the hold.

divert

뜻: 회항하다

• We were ready to divert if no approach was offered.
• We did not have to divert in the end.

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4. Key Expressions & Collocations

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5. Vocabulary

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6. Sentence Frames

빈칸만 갈아끼우면 다른 판단·연료 상황에도 그대로 씁니다.

• We held for a while, but the delay kept ____. → … the delay kept growing and our fuel was going down.
• By the time we had held for ____, our fuel ____. → By the time we had held for fifteen minutes, our fuel was getting close to our limit.
• We told ATC we were unable to accept ____. → … unable to accept further holding.
• We requested ____ or vectors to divert. → We requested an approach without delay or vectors to divert.
• We landed with our reserves intact, before ____. → … before the fuel became critical.

오늘의 표현 포인트 — "By the time we had held for fifteen minutes, our fuel was getting low." 어느 시점이 됐을 때 이미 상황이 ~했다를 by the time으로 말합니다.

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7. Common Mistakes → Better Phrasing

한국인이 자주 쓰는 틀리거나 약한 표현을, 시험에서 통하는 표현으로 바꿔 익히세요.

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8. Grammar Point — Point in Time (by the time)

"~할 때쯤에는 이미 ~했다"는 by the time + 절로 말합니다.

• By the time we had held for fifteen minutes, our fuel was getting low.
• By the time ATC offered an approach, we had already decided to leave the hold.
• We acted by the time the delay reached our limit.

핵심: by the time + 주어 + 동사. 주절은 흔히 과거완료(had + p.p.)로 "그 시점엔 이미 ~해 있었다"를 표현합니다.

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9. Model Answer — Q1

"What happened to your aircraft? Explain the nature of the incident."

틀은 자유 — 무슨 일 → 어떻게 대처 → 결과 흐름이면 됩니다.

I was holding at our destination because of weather and heavy traffic. We held for a while, but the delay kept growing and our fuel was going down. By the time we had held for about fifteen minutes, our fuel was getting close to the point where we had to act.

We asked ATC for an expected approach time, and it was longer than our holding fuel allowed. So we told them we were unable to accept further holding and requested either an immediate approach or vectors to divert, whichever they could give us first.

They took us out of the holding pattern ahead of two other aircraft and cleared us for the approach straight away, and we committed to landing here, knowing we still had our reserves.

We flew a normal approach and landed with our reserves intact, before the fuel became critical. The key was watching the fuel, working out our limit, and speaking up in time rather than holding until it was too late.

10. Model Answer — Q2

"How do you think ATC handled the situation? Could it have been handled differently?"

Q2 = ATC 평가로 의견 표현을 익히는 자리. 아래는 한 예시 — 오늘은 살짝 비판이 섞인 톤도 연습.

To be honest, ATC did the basics, but I think it could have been better. When we asked for an expected approach time and then said we were unable to hold any longer, they took us out of the holding pattern ahead of two other aircraft and gave us the approach quickly, and I appreciated that.

The thing I would change is the earlier part: we were held for a while with no expected approach time, and that is what made our fuel tight. If they had given us a clear expected delay sooner, we could have decided to divert or push for an approach earlier. So the late part was good, but earlier information would have helped us avoid the tight situation altogether.

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11. Follow-up Q&A

1. How do you decide when to stop holding? → We calculate how long we can hold and still land with our reserves, and we leave the hold before we reach that point.
2. What does "unable to accept further holding" mean? → It tells ATC we cannot take any more delay, so they need to give us an approach or let us divert.
3. Why not just declare a fuel emergency? → We act before it becomes an emergency. If the fuel were going below our reserves, then we would use the fuel emergency calls.
4. What would you do if no approach was offered? → We would divert to our alternate while we still had the fuel and reserves to do it safely.

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12. Shadowing Sentences

각 문장을 3~5번 소리 내어 따라 하세요.

1. We held at our destination because of weather and traffic.
2. The delay kept growing and our fuel was going down.
3. By the time we had held for fifteen minutes, our fuel was getting low.
4. We calculated our remaining holding time.
5. We decided we could not accept any more delay.
6. We told ATC we were unable to accept further holding.
7. We requested an approach without delay, or vectors to divert.
8. We committed to landing at this airport.
9. We landed with our reserves intact.
10. We acted before the fuel became critical.

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다 읽었으면, 위 문장 구조 몇 개를 골라 30초만 직접 말해보세요. 화면에서 녹음하고 ICAO 6영역 채점을 받아보고 싶다면 EPTA Coach에서 1회차를 무료로 열어둡니다.