Colombia plane crash probe focuses on fuel, electrical systems
Air crash investigators in Colombia sought Wednesday to piece together the terrifying final moments aboard a charter jet carrying a Brazilian soccer team for the biggest match in its history, including a report that the cabin was plunged into darkness as the plane went down.
The probe into Monday’s crash pressed ahead on multiple fronts – including accounts from some of the six survivors among the 81 on board – even as soccer clubs and leaders around the world joined Brazil to mourn a tragedy that claimed 76 lives including players, coaches and journalists.
Among the questions likely to occupy the early stages of the probe: why there was no significant fire after the plane slammed into a hillside near Medellmn and whether a possible electrical malfunction set in motion the events that brought down the British Aerospace 146 with the Chapecoense squad aboard.
Theories raised by analysts suggested the pilot may have intentionally dumped fuel in hopes of reducing risks of a fireball in the crash or that the aircraft’s tank had run dry being within the upper limits of its range.
A surviving crew member, flight attendant Ximena Suarez, told Colombia officials that the inside of the plane went dark before its deadly plunge, media reports said.
A statement by Josi Marma Csrdova International Airport in Medellmn said the pilot reported an electrical fault moments before the crash. But investigators – including a team of British aviation experts – hope that data recovered from flight recorders will shed more details on the cascade of events about 50 miles from Medellmn’s airport.
On Wednesday, investigators and recovery teams returned to the wreckage as soldiers guarded the site. In Medellmn, meanwhile, medical teams moved ahead with the process of identifying the remains and treating the survivors: three players, two crew members and a journalist.
Each surviving team member suffered extensive injuries: Goalkeeper Jakson Ragnar Follmann had his right leg amputated, and defender Alan Luciano Ruschel underwent spine surgery, doctors told reporters. The third player, Hilio Hermito Zampier Neto, remained in intensive care with severe trauma to his skull, neck and lungs.
Another survivor, flight technician Erwin Tumiri, said many passengers ignored appeals to follow emergency procedures before the crash.
“Many passengers got up from their seats and started yelling. I put the bag between my legs and went into the fetal position as recommended,” he told Colombia’s Radio Caracol.
Christian Kruger, head of Colombia’s customs agency, told reporters that 45 bodies have been identified and they expect to finish the work later Wednesday.
“Then we’re expecting some flights by the Brazilian and Bolivian Air Force to repatriate the bodies,” Kruger said.
In Brazil, three days of mourning were declared. Chapecoense – which was in Brazil’s lowly fourth division just seven years ago – was on its way to play in the finals of the Copa Sudamericana, one of the continent’s most prestigious tournaments. Chapecoense’s opponent, Atlitico Nacional of Medellmn, asked that the Brazilians be awarded the trophy in honor of the dead.
Outside Chapecoense’s home stadium in Chapeco, about 800 miles southwest of Rio de Janeiro, fans maintained a vigil that began just hours after the disaster. “We were there for them in victory and we’re here for them in tragedy, rain or shine. Like family,” Chapecoense fan Caua Regis told the Reuters news agency.
The club planned an open wake at their stadium in the coming days, the city’s planning secretary, Nemesio da Silva, told journalists.
In London, the arch of Wembley Stadium was lit up in Chapecoense’s green color. At the Vatican, Pope Francis noted the “Brazilian people’s sorrow” while greeting Portuguese-speaking pilgrims at his weekly public audience.