Colombia plane crash – leaked audio reveals LaMia jet ran out of fuel

The final minutes of the doomed flight carrying Brazil’s Chapecoense have been leaked in a recording which reveals the pilot pleaded for permission to land the plane as it had “fuel problems”, shortly before crashing into the Andes, killing 71 of the 77 passengers and crew on board.
The recording includes an exchange with the Medéllin air traffic tower where requests for authorization to land were denied owing to another flight with mechanical problems having been given priority, the Avro RJ85 pilot being advised to wait seven minutes.
Flying a circular holding pattern, the pilot of the British-built jetliner became more desperate. One of his final comments was “Complete electrical failure, without fuel”, before a four-minute death spiral saw the plane crash into the Andes just 30 miles short of its destination. Just before going silent the pilot advised that he was flying at an altitude of 9,000 feet and made one last plea to land: “Vectors, señorita. Landing vectors.”
The recording backs up an account provided by a surviving flight attendant, and the pilot of a plane flying nearby who overheard the frantic conversation. The fact that there were no traces of aviation fuel and a lack of any fire that one might expect with such an impact would tend to further indicate the plane had run out of fuel. While British crash investigators are already involved as the jet was built in the U.K. U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will also be taking part in the investigation as the plane’s engines were supplied by an American manufacturer.
Before being taken offline, the website of LaMia, the Bolivian-based charter company, indicated that the jetliner’s maximum range was 2,965km (1,600 nautical miles) – which is just under the distance between Medellín and Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where the flight began, carrying a near full passenger capacity.
There is also the possibility that the pilot dumped fuel, or a lack of fuel may have been caused by a leak. “If this is confirmed by the investigators it would be a very painful because it stems from negligence,” Alfredo Bocanegra, head of Colombia’s aviation agency, told Caracol Radio on Wednesday when questioned as to whether the plane should have attempted such a long haul.