The plane carrying a Brazilian soccer team that crashed in Colombia might have simply run out of fuel before slamming into a Colombian mountainside — despite reports that the pilot deliberately dumped fuel to avoid an explosion, investigators said.
LaMia Flight 2933 had practically arrived at its destination in Medellin, had radioed the tower for landing clearance and was placed about third or fourth in line as it circled the airport, officials told Colombian newspaper ElTiempo.
Minutes later, pilot Miguel Alejandro Quiroga asked to land immediately because he had run out of fuel, ElTiempo reported.
He was given clearance but the plane never made it, crashing a mere 18 miles away and killing 71 of 77 people aboard — including virtually everyone with the Chapecoense soccer team. Six people miraculously survived.
“We’re looking into it (loss of fuel), we’re waiting for information from the investigation,” said LaMia director Gustavo Vargas.
The plane should have had just enough fuel to make it from its origin in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, to Medellin.
If the pilot had any concerns about fuel, he knew to land in Bogota about 250 miles south of Medellin to gas up, Vargas said.
“Bogota Airport, according to the flight plan, was the alternative in any case,” he said.
It has been reported that Quiroga, 54, circled the aircraft to burn off or dump fuel to prevent an explosion on impact. Flight data shows the jet circled a few times after the pilot declared an electrical failure.
But aviation experts say that failure could have been caused by fuel starvation, and that the pilots — who were circling to try to fix the electrical problem — realized their predicament too late.
The plane’s black boxes were found and appeared to be in working order.
“It is very suspicious that despite the impact there was no explosion,” an investigatory source told AFP. “That reinforces the theory of the lack of fuel.”
A CNN source said the jet might have come down because of “fuel starvation,” meaning gas didn’t reach engines causing them to shut down. A leak, internal icing, malfunctioning pumps or pilot error all could be tied to the loss of power.
“We do know there was no fire when the plane impacted the ground, which may be one of the reasons why there are survivors from this terrible tragedy,” Airlineratings.com editor-in-chief Geoffrey Thomas told CNN.
Some of the miracle survivors are beginning to talk, describing the unthinkable terror on board as their plane tumbled from the sky.
“The plane went out completely and had a sharp decline, followed by a big impact,” flight attendant Ximena Suarez told El Colombiano newspaper.
Surviving crew member Erwin Tumiri said as the plane went into its deadly descent he immediately went into crash-landing mode, according to the Mirror newspaper.
“I saved myself because I followed the emergency protocol, putting bags between my legs and put myself in the fetal position,” Tumiri said. “I also saw how many passengers rose and began to scream.”
The other survivors included three players and a journalist traveling with the team.
The squad’s first-string goalkeeper, 31-year-old Marcos Danilo Padilha, was pulled from the wreckage but died on the way to the hospital.
Backup goalie Jackson Follmann was one of the survivors but had to have his right leg amputated, hospital officials said.
Chapecoense had been having a dream season, going to Medellin to play the first of a two-leg final in the continent’s Copa Sudamericana tournament.
Chapecoense plays its home matches in a small, one-deck stadium with just a 22,000 capacity.
It was only promoted to Brazil’s top league in 2014 – and as recently as 2009, Chapecoense was toiling in the podunk fourth division of that nation’s soccer hierarchy.
Its magical run to Copa Sudamericana final should have been the club’s all-time highlight.
“The pain is terrible. Just as we had made it, I will not say to the top, but to have national prominence, a tragedy like this happens,” club VP Ivan Tozzo told Globo SporTV. “It is very difficult, a very great tragedy.”