British investigators fly to Colombia after fatal Avro RJ85 Crash

A British-manufactured Avro RJ85 carrying 72 passengers and nine crew has crashed on a flight between Sao Paolo, Brazil, and Medellín, Colombia. It is understood that there are only six survivors. Though nothing has been confirmed, it is believed that between the municipalities of La Ceja and La Unión in Colombia, the pilot had declared an emergency because of electrical failures.

As the plane, a variant of the BAE146 model, had been manufactured in the UK by British Aerospace, now part of BAE Systems, the UK’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has followed standard international protocol in sending a team to assist Colombia’s Aeronautica Civil.

The plane, on a charter flight operated by Bolivian carrier LaMia, set off from Sao Paolo at 3.35pm local time, Monday, and on board were 22 members of Cahpecoense, a Brazilian football team flying to Medellín to take part in the Copa Sudamerica finals. In addition, there were 21 journalists on board. Of the survivors, three were members of the football team, one was a reporter, and the other two survivors were members of the flight crew.

The plane crashed during stormy weather, having been given priority to land at Medellin according to a statement from Alfredo Bocanegra, the head of Colombia’s civil aviation authority. Having stopped en route in Bolivia, at around 10pm local time, the pilot declared an emergency. Contact with the plane was subsequently lost at around midnight local time as it neared Medellín.

Though suffering extensive damage on impact, the plane did not catch fire, which may indicate that the pilots had time to jettison fuel before the crash in mountainous terrain approximately 18 miles (30km) south of the airport.

The plane first flew in 1999 and was registered as part of CityJet’s fleet operating out of Dublin and London City Airports. With four jet engines, the plane was designed as a short-haul, regional jet liner with a capacity of 100 passengers and the capability of descending steeply for landing on short runways.

The AAIB team comprises three accident investigators specialising in operations, engineering and flight data recorders and, together with BAE staff, should arrive in Medellín on Wednesday.