LaMia Airlines Flight 2933 crash

LaMia Airlines Flight 2933 (LMI 2933) crashed on 28 November 2016 while transporting a Brazilian football team, Associação Chapecoense de Futebol, from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, to José María Córdova International Airport in Medellín, Colombia. The airliner, an Avro RJ85, carried 81 people: 72 passengers, which included the team, 21 journalists, and a crew of 9. The team was en route to play the 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals against Colombian team Atlético Nacional. Six survived the crash.

Aircraft

The flight was operated by an Avro RJ85, registration CP-2933, serial numberE.2348. The aircraft had first flown on 26 March 1999. After service with other airlines and a period in storage between 2010 and 2013, it was acquired by LaMia Airlines, a Venezuelan-Bolivian airline. At the time of the accident, CP-2933 was the only plane that could fly in LaMia's fleet of three RJ85s, as the other two were being repaired.

Accident

The aircraft was on a flight from the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra to Medellín in Colombia, carrying 72 passengers and 9 crew.  Among the passengers were members of the Brazilian Chapecoense Football Club who were travelling to play their away leg of the Final of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana in Medellín. The National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC) had denied Chapecoense's request to charter a plane directly from Sao Paulo to Medellín, leading to the unusual stop and change of planes at Santa Cruz. ANAC had required that the charter operator be Brazilian or Colombian to authorize a direct flight, but the club opted to retain LaMia, which had already transported other soccer clubs, including teams playing in CONMEBOL competitions and the Argentina national team, which had flown on the same aircraft just 18 days prior.

The distance between the two airports is 1,605 nautical miles (2,972 km), slightly exceeding the specified range of the Avro RJ85, which is 1,600 nautical miles (2,963 km).

At 10:00 p.m. local time on 28 November (03:00 UTC, 29 November), the crew declared an electrical emergency while flying in Colombian airspace between the municipalities of La Ceja and La Unión. The aircraft later crashed in Cerro Gordo, located in La Unión, at an altitude of 15,500 ft.

Helicopters from the Colombian Air Force were initially unable to get to the site because of heavy fog in the area, while first aid workers arrived two hours after the crash to find debris strewn across an area about 100 meters in diameter. It was not until 2:00 a.m. on 29 November that the first survivor arrived at the La Ceja hospital: Alan Ruschel, one of the members of the Chapecoense team. Initially seven people were reported to have survived, although one later died in hospital. The last survivor to be found was footballer Neto, who was discovered at 5:40 a.m. Seventy-five people were killed.

Survivors

The surviving players were left back Alan Ruschel, backup goalkeeper Follmann (who had one of his legs amputated due to his injuries) and center back Neto.[13] The other survivors were a journalist, Rafael Henzel of Rádio Oeste, and two members of the flight crew: flight attendant Ximena Suárez and flight technician Erwin Tumiri, both of Bolivian nationality. Goalkeeper Danilo initially survived the crash, but later died in hospital.

Notable fatalities

Chapecoense players

• Ailton Cesar Junior Alves da Silva (Canela), 22
• Dener Assunção Braz (Dener), 25
• Marcelo Augusto Mathias da Silva (Marcelo), 25
• Matheus Bitencourt da Silva (Matheus Biteco), 21
• Mateus Lucena dos Santos (Caramelo), 22
• Guilherme Gimenez de Souza (Gimenez), 21
• Lucas Gomes da Silva (Lucas Gomes), 26
• Everton Kempes dos Santos Gonçalves (Kempes), 34
• Arthur Brasiliano Maia (Arthur Maia), 24
• Ananias Eloi Castro Monteiro (Ananias), 27
• Marcos Danilo Padilha (Danilo), 31
• Filipe José Machado (Filipe Machado), 32
• Sérgio Manoel Barbosa Santos (Sérgio Manoel), 27
• José Gildeixon Clemente de Paiva (Gil), 29
• Bruno Rangel Domingues (Bruno Rangel), 34
• Cléber Santana Loureiro (Cléber Santana), 35
• Josimar Rosado da Silva Tavares (Josimar), 30
• Willian Thiego de Jesus (Thiego), 30
• Tiago da Rocha Vieira Alves (Tiaguinho), 22

Chapecoense staff

• Luiz Carlos Saroli (Caio Júnior), manager, 51

Media

• Mário Sérgio Pontes de Paiva, Fox Sports commentator, former national team player and manager, 66
• Devair Paschoalon (pt), Fox Sports commentator and announcer, 51
• Paulo Julio Clement (pt), Fox Sports commentator, 51
• Victorino Chermont (pt), Fox Sports reporter, 43

Investigation

The Unidad Administrativa Especial de Aeronáutica Civil (Special Administrative Unit of Civil Aeronautics – UAEAC) is investigating the accident. Colombia's Aircraft Accident Investigation unit requested assistance from BAE Systems, the manufacturer, and the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch as representative of the state of the manufacturer. A team of three accident investigators have been deployed.

The flight attendant who survived the accident stated that the aircraft ran out of fuel. This is being investigated by the UAEAC. The person in charge of the investigation stated that there "is no evidence of fuel in the aircraft".

or

The flight attendant who survived the accident is reported to have stated that the aircraft ran out of fuel. This is being investigated by the UAEAC. The person in charge of the investigation is reported to have stated that there "is no evidence of fuel in the aircraft".

Reactions

Brazilian President Michel Temer declared three days of national mourning and requested that personnel from the Brazilian embassy, in Bogotá, be moved to Medellín in order to better assist the survivors and the families of the victims.

All CONMEBOL-related activities were suspended, including both legs of the Copa Sudamericana final, scheduled for 30 November and 7 December, and the second leg of the Copa do Brasil Final. Atlético Nacional asked for the Copa Sudamericana to be awarded to Chapecoense, while Brazilian teams offered to loan the club players for the next year.