Soccer plane in Colombia crash was running out of fuel: recording
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[December 01, 2016]
By Julia Symmes Cobb and Brad Haynes
LA UNION, Colombia/CHAPECO, Brazil
(Reuters) - The plane that crashed in Colombia virtually wiping out
an entire Brazilian soccer team was running out of fuel, had no
electrical power, and was preparing for an emergency landing,
according to the pilot's final words.
The disaster on Monday night killed 71 people and sent shock waves
round the global soccer world.
Only six on board the LAMIA Bolivia charter flight survived,
including three of the Chapecoense soccer squad en route to the
biggest game in their history: the Copa Sudamericana final.
"Miss, LAMIA 933 is in total failure, total electrical failure,
without fuel," Bolivian pilot Miguel Quiroga was heard telling the
control tower operator at Medellin's airport on the crackly audio
played by Colombian media.
"Fuel emergency, Miss," he added, requesting urgent permission to
land.
That matched the account from the co-pilot of an Avianca plane
flying close by at the time. He said he overheard the LAMIA plane
reporting it was out of fuel and had to land.
"Mayday mayday ... Help us get to the runway ... Help, help," Juan
Sebastian Upegui described the LAMIA pilot as saying in an audio
message also played by local media.
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"Then it ended ... We all started to cry."
The BAe 146, made by BAE Systems Plc, slammed into a mountainside
next to La Union town outside Medellin. Besides the three players, a
journalist and two crew members survived.
One survivor, Bolivian flight technician Erwin Tumiri, said he only
saved himself by strict adherence to security procedure, while
others panicked.
"Many passengers got up from their seats and started yelling," he
told Colombia's Radio Caracol.
"I put the bag between my legs and went into the fetal position as
recommended."
Bolivian flight attendant Ximena Suarez, another survivor, said the
lights went out less than a minute before the plane slammed into the
mountain, according to Colombian officials in Medellin.
Of the players, goalkeeper Jackson Follmann was recovering from the
amputation of his right leg, doctors said.
Another player, defender Helio Neto, remained in intensive care with
severe trauma to his skull, thorax and lungs.
Fellow defender Alan Ruschel had spinal surgery.
Suarez and Tumiri were shaken and bruised but not in critical
condition, medical staff said, while journalist Rafael Valmorbida
was in intensive care for multiple rib fractures that partly
collapsed a lung.
In Medellin and Chapeco, fans held homage to the team.
Dressed in white and chanting "we will never forget, this cup goes
to heaven" the Atletico Nacional stadium in Medellin erupted in
cheers, while others cried and white doves flew overhead. The team
had been due to play Chapecoense in the regional final.
Atletico wants the trophy to be given to Chapecoense in honor of the
dead.
"As far as we are concerned," the team said, "Chapecoense will
forever be the champions of the Copa Sudamericana Cup 2016."
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Tens of thousands of fans packed the Capeco's stadium for a second
night.
When a video of Colombian supporters singing a club anthem was
broadcast on a giant screen, the stadium exploded in song.
At what would have been kick-off time in the Cup final, the faces
and names of those who died in the plane crash were shown on the
screen.
INVESTIGATING THE CRASH
Investigators from Brazil have joined Colombian counterparts to
check two black boxes from the crash site on a muddy hillside in
wooded highlands near the town of La Union.
Bolivia, where LAMIA is based, and the United Kingdom also sent
experts to help the probe.
The plane "came over my house, but there was no noise," said Nancy
Munoz, 35, who grows strawberries in the area. "The engine must have
gone."
Some have questioned why Chapecoense used the charter company
instead of a commercial airline and why the plane did not have
enough fuel for the roughly five-hour flight.
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![](../images/120116pics/sports51.jpg)
Rescue crews work near the wreckage from a plane that crashed into
Colombian jungle with Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense onboard near
Medellin, Colombia, November 29, 2016. REUTERS/Fredy Builes
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The club's vice president, Luiz Antonio Palaoro, said LAMIA had a
track-record of transporting soccer teams around South America and
it had used the airline previously.
"We are dealing with the humanitarian aspect of the families and the
victims," Palaoro told reporters in Chapeco. "After that, we are
going to have to think about restructuring the team and also in the
appropriate legal measures."
LAMIA CEO Gustavo Vargas said it is at the pilot's discretion to
refuel en route. There is about 4.5 hours of fuel on board and
weather conditions sometimes mean it should be refueled.
"There's sometimes more or less. Weather conditions influence a lot,
but he had alternatives in Bogota in case of a fuel deficiency. He
had all the power to go to refuel. It's a decision that the pilot
takes," Vargas told reporters in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
Rescuers have recovered all of the bodies, which are to be sent to
Brazil and Bolivia.
All of the crew members were Bolivian.
Forty-five of the bodies have been identified, Colombian officials
said.
Since there was no fire on board, bodies are being identified by
fingerprints, Julio Bitelli, Brazil's ambassador to Colombia, told
Reuters.
"There's no need for family members to come," he said.
"If they want to come, that's an individual decision that we
respect, and we will give all the support needed."
He said returning the bodies to Brazil was complicated by the number
of victims, but air force planes were ready to take them from
Medellin direct to Chapeco, in remote southern Brazil.
Soccer-mad Brazil declared three days of mourning.
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It was a bitter twist to a fairy-tale story for Chapecoense. Since
2009, the team rose from Brazil's fourth to top division and was
about to play the biggest match in its history in the first leg of
the regional cup final in Medellin.
Global soccer greats from Lionel Messi to Pele sent condolences.
In the small city of Chapecó in remote southern Brazil, black and
green ribbons were draped on fences, balconies and restaurant
tables. Schools canceled classes, and businesses closed.
"It's a miracle," Flavio Ruschel, the father of Alan Ruschel, told
Globo News as he prepared to fly to Colombia. "I don't think I'll be
able to speak, just hug him and cry a lot."
Black banners hung from a cathedral downtown and wrapped around a
14-meter statue of one of the town's founding explorers.
Outside the team's Conda stadium, a group of hardcore fans put up a
tent and promised to keep vigil until the bodies of their idols
returned to the city.
"We were there for them in victory, and we're here for them in
tragedy, rain or shine," said fan Caua Regis. "Like family."
The club is planning an open wake at their stadium, a city official
said.
(Writing by Helen Murphy and Andrew Cawthorne; Additional reporting
by Anthony Boadle, Brad Haynes and Daniel Flynn in Brazil, Danny
Ramos in Bolivia; Editing by Kieran Murray, Lisa Von Ahn and Lisa
Shumaker)
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