[American Constitutionalist]

" Besides why would an aircraft fly over the Atlantic with a near empty fuel tank? "
That would be a center fuel tank according to the official report.
Besides ? if it was true in which I doubt, that would be the last tank that they would drain during flight to keep the center of gravity.
If the center tank was empty and the wing tanks were used then the plane's weight would shift as one tank is emptied.

[haole]

for the relatively short ranged flight, only the wing mains were needed, and the center would be empty.