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Bolivia
Files a Criminal Complaint in Fatal Colombia Crash
Airport employee accused of 'failing to carry out her duties as a public official' for letting plane depart  Rescue teams work in the recovery of the bodies of victims of the LaMia airlines charter that crashed in the mountains of Cerro Gordo, municipality of La Union, Colombia, on November 29. SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia-Bolivian authorities filed a criminal complaint against an airport official here for allowing a charter plane to depart for Colombia even though its flight plan was in violation of international aviation safety standards. The LaMia airline plane, which was carrying a Brazilian soccer team, ran out of fuel hours later and crashed at about 10 p.m. near Medellín on Nov. 28, killing 71 people aboard. Bolivia's airport authority, Aasana, filed the complaint against Celia Castedo, an Aasana employee who reviewed the LaMia flight plan. That plan, as well as a written transcript that Ms. Castedo prepared after the crash recalling her conversation with the plane's onboard dispatcher, Alex Quispe, appear to indicate that the flight's pilot and co-owner, Miguel Quiroga, knowingly put the lives of those aboard at risk by flying directly to Medellín without stopping to refuel. Investigators say it appears the flight departed from the Viru Viru International Airport without the necessary amount of fuel, violating international regulations. The regulations, based on standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, require commercial flights to have sufficient fuel for reaching their destination as well an additional amount for reaching an alternative airport and for a variety of other contingencies. According to a transcript of events, Ms. Castedo said she initially objected to the LaMia flight plan. She allegedly urged Mr. Quispe to change it. The plane's maximum flight range was about 41/2 hours-just barely enough to reach Medellín, the document said. "That's not OK. Go back and check. Change your flight plan," Ms. Castedo told Mr. Quispe, according to her written version of events. But Mr. Quispe, who died in the crash, allegedly brushed off her concerns. "Let it go," Mr. Quispe allegedly told Ms. Castedo. "Don't worry, Ms. Celia, that's the range they gave me. We'll do it in less time." Ms. Castedo said in the transcript that "too often flight dispatchers do not take our observations seriously." Ultimately, though, she allowed the plane to depart. Ms. Castedo, who couldn't be reached for comment, faces up to four years in jail, accused of "failing to carry out her duties as a public official." The transcript was published by Bolivian daily El Deber, on Dec. 1 then reviewed and independently verified by The Wall Street Journal. A Bolivian prosecutor declined to comment on the transcript. LaMia couldn't be reached for comment and Aasana declined to comment. An initial flight plan, drawn up the morning of the crash, included a refueling stop in the northern Bolivian city of Cobija, Freddy Bonilla, Colombia's air safety secretary and crash investigator, said Sunday. That plan was presented by the airline, LaMia, to the Bolivian authorities, who approved it along with other commercial paperwork required for international flights. LaMia then presented its approved paperwork to Colombian authorities who authorized the flight to enter Colombian air space, Mr. Bonilla said. A different and final flight plan, however, was drawn up later that day, at about 4:30 p.m., by the LaMia crew at the Santa Cruz airport in Bolivia, Mr. Bonilla said. This one didn't include a stop in Cobija, which aviation officials have said lacks lighting after dark. The direct-flight plan, which pushed the aircraft nearly to the limit of its fuel range, was approved by Aasana, the airport authority, over the apparent initital objections of Ms. Castedo, investigators said. LaMia has flown from Santa Cruz to Medellin in the past, officials said, but as far as they have learned, such flights always included a refueling stop in Cobija. They are trying to determine why the doomed plane's final flight plan didn't include that stop, and have said it may have been because of the late hour. Mr. Bonilla said investigators are looking into whether the ill-fated Avro RJ85 could have had a fuel leak that might have contributed to the crash. Jorge Cabrera, head of the Aasana employees union, said the labor group stands by Ms. Castedo. The union will present its view of the accident on Monday, he said. Roberto Curilovic, head of International programming at Corporación America, an Argentine conglomerate that operates 53 airports around the world, said "there's no way that flight plan should have been approved." "Accidents don't just happen. There was bad intent there," Mr. Curilovic said, referring to the decision to make the flight despite the risks. Bolivia's defense minister, Reymi Ferreira, said Friday that the country itself could face aviation sanctions, potentially making it more difficult for airlines to operate here. Bolivian President Evo Morales has called for an aggressive investigation into the crash, and the government has laid off several officials, including the son of one of the charter plan's directors who was supposed to oversee its operations. |
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Before
Deadly Crash In Colombia, Pilot Said He Was Out Of
Fuel
 Rescue teams work on Tuesday to recover bodies from the wreckage of the LaMia charter plane that crashed in the mountains in Colombia late Monday, killing 71 people, officials say. Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images Shortly before a charter jet carrying a Brazilian soccer team crashed in the mountains of Colombia, the pilot told air traffic control he was "out of fuel" and experiencing "total electrical failure," according to leaked audio and accounts from a survivor and another pilot. The plane was supposed to stop for fuel partway through its flight, but it didn't. It requested priority landing in Medellín, Colombia, but didn't declare an emergency, and another plane with mechanical problems was already approaching the runway. So the charter plane, LaMia Airlines 2933, entered a holding pattern - then declared an urgent fuel shortage, and crashed. The plane crash killed 71 people; there were only six survivors. (Early reports suggested 75 or 76 people had died, because authorities had inaccurate information about the number of people on the plane.) Among the dead were most of the members of Brazil's Chapecoense soccer team, which was having a "fairy-tale" year, as well as a number of journalists traveling with the team. The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but multiple sources describe a pilot panicking about a fuel shortage in the final minutes of the flight. The trip didn't go as planned from the start. The charter jet, which specialized in transporting soccer teams, wasn't authorized to pick up the team in Brazil, so the players had to take a commercial flight to Bolivia. That delayed the itinerary, Gustavo Vargas, general director of the charter plane company, told Colombian newspaper El Tiempo. From Santa Cruz, Bolivia, the team boarded the LaMia charter and set off for Medellín. Vargas says there was a planned refueling stop in Cobija, Brazil, but that the delay meant they'd have to refuel in Bogotá, Colombia, instead. It appears the pilot decided not to refuel at all. "We have to investigate the reason he decided to go directly to Medellín," Vargas told the Bolivian newspaper Pagina Siete, noting that the pilot was "very experienced." Without refueling, the itinerary might have been pushing - or past - the plane's fuel limits. From Santa Cruz to Medellín is approximately 3,000 km, or 1,850 miles. LaMia advertised the plane in question, an Avro RJ85, as having a range of 2,965 km (1,842 miles). The actual range would depend on the plane's fuel reserves and payload; Aviation Safety Network says the RJ85 could fly up to 2,343 miles under certain conditions, but just 1,239 miles with a maximum payload. International flight regulations require planes to carry enough fuel to reach their destination and then fly for at least 30 more minutes, Reuters notes. By the time LaMia 2933 reached Medellín, it was reporting low fuel, according to multiple sources, including the flight attendant who survived the crash and a pilot who overheard conversations between LMI 2933 and the control tower. Leaked audio obtained by Colombian media, including Blu Radio, corroborates those accounts. You can hear it in full on Blu Radio's site, or hear portions with translated captions at The Independent. Anonymous sources at José María Córdova International Airport in Medellín also described the situation to the Colombian newspaper El Colombiano. By all accounts, in the final minutes of the flight, the control tower in Medellín had two planes reporting problems. The LaMia charter said it had fuel problems and requested priority landing. But a commercial plane, rerouted because of a fuel leak, had already requested priority. The LaMia pilot did not appear to tell air traffic control he was in an emergency situation. The charter plane was also at a higher altitude than the rerouted commercial flight, El Colombiano reports. So flight controllers decided to allow the flight with the leak to land first. You can hear the exchange that followed on the leaked recording. Here's how the AP sums it up: "In the sometimes chaotic exchange with the air traffic tower, the pilot ... requests permission to land because of 'fuel problems' without making a formal distress call. A female controller explained another plane that had been diverted with mechanical problems was already approaching the runway and had priority, instructing the pilot to wait seven minutes. "As the jetliner circled in a holding pattern, the pilot grew more desperate. 'Complete electrical failure, without fuel,' he said in the tense final moments before the plane set off on a four-minute death spiral that ended with it slamming into a mountainside Monday night. "By then the controller had gauged the seriousness of the situation and told the other plane to abandon its approach to make way for the charter jet. It was too late." "Vectors, señorita, vectors to the runway," the pilot said, asking the controller to guide him in for a landing. She told him he was 8 miles away from the runway. "Vectors, vectors!" he said, then went silent. The disaster took eight minutes to unfold, Aviation Herald reports - from when the plane entered its holding pattern to when it disappeared from radar. As we reported on Tuesday, the crashed charter plane did not explode or catch on fire on impact, bolstering the theory that it ran completely out of fuel. And Colombian authorities have confirmed there was no evidence of fuel on the plane. But the AP reports that there might be alternate explanations - such as a leak or an intentional fuel dump - for the lack of fuel. On Wednesday night, when the Chapecoense soccer team was supposed to be playing in the Copa Sudamericana, crowds gathered at stadiums in Colombia and Brazil to mourn and pay homage to the dead. |
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Crash: LAMIA Bolivia RJ85 near Medellin on Nov 28th 2016,
electrical problems, no fuel, impact with terrain
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