Crash in Colombia - 81 on board an Avro BAe RJ 146, but six survivors are observed - BBC

Flight Safety in Latin America - ICAO 

ANALYSIS: Latin America safety improves, but work needed

The past two years have seen few serious accidents in the Latin America and Caribbean area, and those that have happened have involved small turboprops. But two years is a short time in aviation safety terms and - given the region's mediocre safety record over decades - not long enough to impress experts at bodies such as the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

The graph below, using figures assembled by Flight Ascend Consultancy, illustrates the long-term story. Using a nine-year moving average to derive the trend, the region still shows a higher accident rate than the world average, although it is closing with the global figures even as the latter are continuing to improve. That is the good news.

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The bad news is that ICAO is not impressed with Latin American and Caribbean compliance with its standards and recommended practices (SARP) for safety oversight and infrastructure.

The region's intentions are good, however. At Panama City in June the Regional Aviation Safety Group - Pan American (RASG-PA) restated its intention to reach, by 2020, a reduction of fatal accidents to 50% of the rate a decade earlier.

According to ICAO's most recent safety report for the Americas, safety priorities for Latin America and the Caribbean, based on overall risk assessment, have been determined as loss of control in flight (LOC-I), runway excursion, controlled flight into terrain and mid-air collision.

Photo from CNN

Brazil football team Chapecoense in Colombia plane crash

• 25 minutes ago

Image copyright AFP

Image caption The team were due to play in the first leg of the final of the Copa Sudamericana

A plane carrying 81 people, including a Brazilian football team, has crashed on its approach to the city of Medellin in Colombia, officials say.

Details are unclear but some reports say there are survivors.
The chartered plane, flying from Bolivia, was carrying members of the Chapecoense football team, airport officials said.
The team was due to play in the final of the Copa Sudamericana against Medellin team Atletico Nacional.
The first leg of the final of the cup, South America's second most important club competition, was scheduled for Wednesday, but has now been suspended.

The team, from the city of Chapeco, was promoted to Brazil's first division in 2014 and reached the final last week after a victory against Argentina's San Lorenzo.
Reports say the plane, carrying 72 passengers and nine crew, crashed in a mountainous area outside the city shortly before midnight local time (05:00 GMT).

Medellin's Mayor Federico Gutierrez described it as "a tragedy of huge proportions", but added it was possible there were survivors.
The Jose Maria Cordova de Rionegro airport, which serves Medellin, posted on its Twitter account: "Confirmed, the aircraft licence number CP2933 was carrying the team @ChapecoenseReal. Apparently there are survivors."