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Chapecoense plane crash: Bolivia arrests LaMia airline boss

• 7 hours ago
 
• From the sectionLatin America & Caribbean

 

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Image captionFans and relatives took part in a funeral service at the Chapecoense stadium on Saturday

The authorities in Bolivia have arrested the head of the airline involved in a crash last week that killed 71 people, including most of the Brazilian football team, Chapecoense.

Gustavo Vargas, a retired air force general, has been detained as part of an investigation into the crash.

The plane, operated by the tiny LaMia airline, was taking the team to Colombia when it ran out of fuel.

A Bolivian official says she warned the pilot of the problem before departure.

The official, Celia Castedo, has now sought asylum in Brazil, saying she suffered threats and abuse.

Chapecoense were travelling to the city of Medellin to play the first leg of the Sudamericana Cup final against Atletico Nacional.

The British-made Avro RJ85 aircraft ran out of fuel as it approached the airport in Medellin on 28 November.

In a leaked tape, the pilot, Miguel Quiroga, can be heard warning of a "total electric failure" and "lack of fuel".

'Escaping justice'

A Bolivian official, Celia Castedo, says she warned Mr Quiroga before departure that the long flight between southern Bolivia and Medellin was at the limit of the plane's maximum range.

She has now sought asylum in Brazil, saying she is being persecuted.

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Image captionParis Saint Germain were one of many clubs to pay tribute to Chapecoense in the latest round of the Champions League

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionBolivian prosecutors seized material from LaMia's offices in Santa Cruz

Her asylum process could take a year to be processed, the authorities in Brazil said.

Bolivian Government Minister Carlos Romero urged the Brazilian authorities to turn her back.

"What she has done is very serious," he said. "It's a way of escaping the judicial system."

'No warning'

Six people survived the crash. One of them, crew member Erwin Tumuri, said an initial stop for refuelling in the northern Bolivian city of Cobija had been dropped by the pilot.

There was no warning to the crew or the passengers that the plane was facing electrical or fuel problems, Mr Tumuri told Brazil's Globo TV.

LaMia was originally registered in Venezuela, before moving its headquarters to Bolivia. It only had three planes, but only two of them were operational.

The plane had been chartered by Chapecoense for the biggest match in the club's history, against Atletico Nacional.

The club, from the southern Brazilian city of Chapeco, was only founded in 1973 and had never reached a final of an international tournament.

A day after the tragedy, Atletico Nacional said it wanted to forfeit the title.

On Monday, the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) declared Chapecoense officially champions of the Sudamericana Cup, the second most prestigious continental competition.

For its gesture, Atletico Nacional has been granted Conmebol's special centenary fair play award.

Chapecoense plane crash: Pilot 'was warned over fuel'

• 2 December 2016
 
• From the sectionLatin America & Caribbean

 

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionTributes have been paid to the Chapecoense team in Medellin and in Chapeco, Brazil

The pilot of a charter plane that crashed in Colombia on Monday had been warned before taking off from an airport in Bolivia that he might not have enough fuel, a report says.

An airport official raised the concern after checking the plane's flight plan, Bolivia's Deber newspaper said.

Seventy-one people died in the crash, including members of a Brazilian football team. Six people survived.

Bodies of the victims are due to be repatriated to Brazil.

Colombian authorities have said evidence is growing that the British-made BAE 146 Avro RJ85 aircraft ran out of fuel as it tried to land at Medellin airport. Experts say it was flying at, or very near, its maximum range.

In a leaked tape, the pilot, Miguel Quiroga, can be heard warning of a "total electric failure" and "lack of fuel".

• What we know
• Team and crew filmed before take-off
• Brace position saved me, says survivor
• The victims, the survivors and those left behind
• A tragedy for journalism

On Thursday, Bolivia's aviation authority suspended the operating licence of charter airline LaMia, which was part-owned by Mr Quiroga, and two other aviation officials.

In the report carried in Deber, the Bolivian airport authority official at Santa Cruz airport said she raised concerns that the plane's fuel load was only enough for the exact flight time.

The paper said she described how the airline's clerk, who died in the crash, had told her the pilot was confident he had enough fuel. Despite her concerns, the flight plan was passed on to Bolivian air control.

Bolivian officials have not yet commented on the report.

An earlier report carried by Brazil's O Globo newspaper suggested that because of a delayed departure, a refuelling stop in Cobija - on the border between Brazil and Bolivia - was abandoned because the airport did not operate at night.

The pilot had the option to refuel in Bogota, it said, but headed straight to Medellin.

The chief executive of LaMia, Gustavo Vargas, said on Wednesday that the plane should have had enough fuel for about four and a half hours and any decision to refuel was at the pilot's discretion.

In another development, the Colombian air traffic controller who received the distress call said she had received death threats following the crash.

Image copyrightGIGAVISION

Image captionFootballers and flight crew were filmed on board the doomed plane as it prepared for take-off

"I did all that was humanly possible and technically necessary to preserve the lives of the passengers, but unfortunately my efforts weren't enough," Yaneth Molina wrote in a letter to her colleagues that was later released to the media.

On the approach to Medellin, the pilot had initially sought permission to land urgently but another plane was given priority because it had suffered a fuel leak. The LaMia flight was told to circle for seven minutes.

Meanwhile, coffins of the Brazilian victims are due to be flown out of Medellin on Friday.

Image copyrightREUTERS

Image captionCoffins, draped with the Chapecoense crest, are to be flown back to Brazil

The Brazilian team Chapecoense had been due to play a football cup final against Atletico Nacional in the city.

In the squad's home town of Chapeco, in southern Brazil, temporary structures have been set up in the football stadium for an open-air wake on Saturday.

Colombian officials say the plane's "black boxes", which record flight details, will be sent to the UK to be opened by investigators.

A full investigation into the crash is expected to take months.