(CNN)Just
before LaMia Flight 2933 crashed into a hillside near Medellin,
Colombia, a crew member onboard told air traffic controllers, "The plane
is in total electric failure and without fuel," according to two
sources familiar with the investigation who heard audio recordings.
The conversations add new details to the final moments of the crash Monday that killed 71 people, including members of a Brazilian soccer team.
They
also add further evidence supporting investigators' suspicions that the
jet had depleted its fuel during its charter flight from Santa Cruz,
Bolivia, to Medellin.
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
A child with a Chapecoense flag attends a vigil at the team's stadium in Brazil on November 30.
Hide Caption
9 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
The
posts of a soccer goal are decorated with flowers while members of a
Colombian army band rehearse for the tribute in Medellin on November 30.
Hide Caption
10 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
A woman places a candle at a memorial in Medellin on November 30.
Hide Caption
11 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
A Chapecoense fan attends a vigil in Chapeco on November 30.
Hide Caption
12 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Chapecoense supporters take part in a vigil at the team's stadium in Chapeco on Tuesday, November 29.
Hide Caption
13 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Candles are seen at a Chapeco vigil on November 29.
Hide Caption
14 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Ana
Maria holds a statue of Our Lady of Aparecida as she and her family
mourn the loss of her son, journalist Guilherme Marques, during a
ceremony in Rio de Janeiro on November 29.
Hide Caption
15 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
People surround a church during a memorial Mass in Chapeco on November 29.
Hide Caption
16 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
People attend a candlelight vigil in Bogota, Colombia, on November 29.
Hide Caption
17 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Players
from the Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense mourn their fallen teammates
during a tribute at the team's stadium in Chapeco, Brazil, on
Wednesday, November 30. A charter airplane carrying 77 people, including
most players from Chapecoense, crashed near Rionegro, Colombia, on
Monday, November 28. Seventy-one people were killed, officials said. Six
survived: three players, two crew members and one journalist.
Hide Caption
1 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Chapecoense
supporters light flares during the stadium tribute on November 30. The
soccer club, which has risen in the ranks in Brazilian soccer and now
has a devoted national fan base, was set to play in the first leg of the
South American Cup finals on Wednesday.
Hide Caption
2 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Relatives of Chapecoense soccer players cry during the tribute on November 30.
Hide Caption
3 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Fans of the team hold their cell phones in the air during the tribute.
Hide Caption
4 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Fans in Chapeco light candles on November 30.
Hide Caption
5 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Fans
of Atletico Nacional -- the Colombian team that Chapecoense was
traveling to play -- pay tribute to the fallen players at a stadium in
Medellin, Colombia, on November 30.
Hide Caption
6 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Soldiers and police attend the tribute in Medellin on November 30.
Hide Caption
7 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Soccer
players from Real Madrid and Cultural Leonesa observe a minute of
silence in Madrid to pay tribute to those killed in the crash.
Hide Caption
8 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
A child with a Chapecoense flag attends a vigil at the team's stadium in Brazil on November 30.
Hide Caption
9 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
The
posts of a soccer goal are decorated with flowers while members of a
Colombian army band rehearse for the tribute in Medellin on November 30.
Hide Caption
10 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
A woman places a candle at a memorial in Medellin on November 30.
Hide Caption
11 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
A Chapecoense fan attends a vigil in Chapeco on November 30.
Hide Caption
12 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Chapecoense supporters take part in a vigil at the team's stadium in Chapeco on Tuesday, November 29.
Hide Caption
13 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Candles are seen at a Chapeco vigil on November 29.
Hide Caption
14 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Ana
Maria holds a statue of Our Lady of Aparecida as she and her family
mourn the loss of her son, journalist Guilherme Marques, during a
ceremony in Rio de Janeiro on November 29.
Hide Caption
15 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
People surround a church during a memorial Mass in Chapeco on November 29.
Hide Caption
16 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
People attend a candlelight vigil in Bogota, Colombia, on November 29.
Hide Caption
17 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Players
from the Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense mourn their fallen teammates
during a tribute at the team's stadium in Chapeco, Brazil, on
Wednesday, November 30. A charter airplane carrying 77 people, including
most players from Chapecoense, crashed near Rionegro, Colombia, on
Monday, November 28. Seventy-one people were killed, officials said. Six
survived: three players, two crew members and one journalist.
Hide Caption
1 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Chapecoense
supporters light flares during the stadium tribute on November 30. The
soccer club, which has risen in the ranks in Brazilian soccer and now
has a devoted national fan base, was set to play in the first leg of the
South American Cup finals on Wednesday.
Hide Caption
2 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Relatives of Chapecoense soccer players cry during the tribute on November 30.
Hide Caption
3 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Fans of the team hold their cell phones in the air during the tribute.
Hide Caption
4 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Fans in Chapeco light candles on November 30.
Hide Caption
5 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Fans
of Atletico Nacional -- the Colombian team that Chapecoense was
traveling to play -- pay tribute to the fallen players at a stadium in
Medellin, Colombia, on November 30.
Hide Caption
6 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Soldiers and police attend the tribute in Medellin on November 30.
Hide Caption
7 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
Soccer
players from Real Madrid and Cultural Leonesa observe a minute of
silence in Madrid to pay tribute to those killed in the crash.
Hide Caption
8 of 17
Photos: Mourning the Colombia plane crash victims
A child with a Chapecoense flag attends a vigil at the team's stadium in Brazil on November 30.
Hide Caption
9 of 17
The
audio was published in Colombian media. Brazilian soccer squad
Chapecoense was on its way to the Copa Sudamericana finals in Medellin.
Three players, two crew members and one journalist survived, Colombian
authorities said.
CNN reported
Tuesday evening that investigators were considering a shortage of fuel
as a significant contributor to Monday's crash, according to a person
familiar with the early stages of the inquiry.
The
lack of apparent fire damage among the wreckage of the of the British
Aerospace Avro RJ85 strongly suggest the jet's fuel tanks were dry when
it hit the ground.
Eyewitness account
Colombian
media on Wednesday also published audio of an Avianca Airlines
co-pilot, Juan Sebastian Upegui, relaying an eyewitness account as the
doomed LaMia flight descended and lost contact with air traffic control.
Colombia plane crash: Full coverage
- Mourners and investigators search for answers
- Chapecoense: Fairy-tale rise ends in tragedy
- Can Chapecoense recover after tragedy? History says yes
- Tributes pour in after crash
- Theories: Pilot said fuel gone
- Pilot: Clues amid plane mystery
- Rivals: Award Chapecoense soccer title
- The four people who skipped flight
- Player had just found out he was to be a dad
Upedgui
said the rapidly descending jet passed to the side of his own aircraft.
"We even saw the plane lights as it was going down."
The
pilot was listening to the radio and recalled that the crew of the
LaMia aircraft did not declare to air traffic controllers a specific
emergency regarding low fuel. In the audio, Upedgui said, "I remember
that [my] commander asked, 'They have fuel problems and are not
declaring an emergency?'"
Colombian
Civil Aviation Authority spokeswoman Maria Cristina Pabon told CNN she
could not confirm the authenticity of Upedgui's recollection or any air
traffic control tapes that had been released by Colombian media.
But
she added, "there are many coincidences -- it could be [true], however,
officially the recordings are in custody and no one can touch them."
Permits suspended
Bolivia's
Public Works Ministry has launched an investigation into LaMia, a
Bolivian charter airline, its owners, and executives.
The
Civil Aviation Authorities of Bolivia suspended flying permits for both
the airline's operator's certificate and the "permit to operate." Hours
after the crash, Bolivian authorities assured that the plane's
paperwork was up to date. The Civil Aviation National Registry approves
licenses for aircrafts, issues certifications, and monitors legal issues
that might affect aircrafts and their operating companies.
LaMia
Airline's general manager, Gustavo Vargas Gamboa, and the head of
Bolivia's Civil Aviation National Registry are father and son. Vargas
Gamboa, the father, denied that the family ties allow him or his company
any special benefits. "For this reason, I am not a partner, I'm a
general manager," Vargas Gamboa said, explaining he does not own any
company assets.
What causes a plane to run out of fuel?
Fuel
exhaustion occurs when fuel is cut off from the engines, causing them
to stop running. It can be caused by a number of factors including a
fuel leak, internal icing, failure of the fuel pumps or gauges, or crew error managing the engine's use of fuel.
Electrical
failure would also occur if an aircraft runs out of fuel. Electrical
power is generated in-flight when the engines are running or through an
auxiliary power unit on board. If those two sources fail, as they would
without fuel, an aircraft's onboard batteries can power some systems for
a short time.
Photos: Colombia plane crash
The
plane declared an emergency between the municipalities of La Ceja and
La Union, according to Colombian aviation officials. The crash occurred
in an area called Cerro El Gordo near Medellin, officials said.
Hide Caption
5 of 8
Photos: Colombia plane crash
Also aboard the flight were more than 20 journalists who were covering the soccer team's Cinderella story.
Hide Caption
6 of 8
Photos: Colombia plane crash
Rescuers search for survivors.
Hide Caption
7 of 8
Photos: Colombia plane crash
Medical staff wait for survivors in La Ceja.
Hide Caption
8 of 8
Photos: Colombia plane crash
A charter airplane with 77 people on board, including players from the Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense, crashed near Rionegro, Colombia, outside Medellin, on Monday, November 28. At least 71 people were killed, officials said. Six survived.
Hide Caption
1 of 8
Photos: Colombia plane crash
The
Avro RJ85 was traveling from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to Medellin. The
soccer club, which has risen in the ranks in Brazilian soccer and now
has a devoted national fan base, was set to play in the first leg of the
South American Cup finals on Wednesday.
Hide Caption
2 of 8
Photos: Colombia plane crash
A rescuer walks past a victim's body on Tuesday, November 29.
Hide Caption
3 of 8
Photos: Colombia plane crash
Rescue workers recover bodies on November 29. Authorities are investigating what caused the crash.
Hide Caption
4 of 8
Photos: Colombia plane crash
The
plane declared an emergency between the municipalities of La Ceja and
La Union, according to Colombian aviation officials. The crash occurred
in an area called Cerro El Gordo near Medellin, officials said.
Hide Caption
5 of 8
Photos: Colombia plane crash
Also aboard the flight were more than 20 journalists who were covering the soccer team's Cinderella story.
Hide Caption
6 of 8
Photos: Colombia plane crash
Rescuers search for survivors.
Hide Caption
7 of 8
Photos: Colombia plane crash
Medical staff wait for survivors in La Ceja.
Hide Caption
8 of 8
Photos: Colombia plane crash
A charter airplane with 77 people on board, including players from the Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense, crashed near Rionegro, Colombia, outside Medellin, on Monday, November 28. At least 71 people were killed, officials said. Six survived.
Hide Caption
1 of 8
Photos: Colombia plane crash
The
Avro RJ85 was traveling from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to Medellin. The
soccer club, which has risen in the ranks in Brazilian soccer and now
has a devoted national fan base, was set to play in the first leg of the
South American Cup finals on Wednesday.
Hide Caption
2 of 8
Photos: Colombia plane crash
A rescuer walks past a victim's body on Tuesday, November 29.
Hide Caption
3 of 8
Photos: Colombia plane crash
Rescue workers recover bodies on November 29. Authorities are investigating what caused the crash.
Hide Caption
4 of 8
Alfredo
Bocanegra, director of the Colombia Civil Aviation Authority, said even
though a preliminary investigation pointed to an electrical problem,
the possibility the plane ran out of fuel has not been ruled out, CNN
Italian affiliate ANSA reported.
However,
Bocanegra said investigators would have to ascertain why the aircraft
didn't have enough fuel, because it was just 5 miles away from the
airport.
The Colombian Civil
Aviation Authority declined to comment further on technical details.
Photos released by authorities showed debris from the four-engine Avro
RJ85 strewn across a hillside with no apparent charring among the
wreckage.
Running out of fuel is
"very, very rare in commercial aviation terms because there are so many
checks and balances to make sure you have enough fuel on board," said
Grant Brophy, an air safety investigator.
Previous incidents
Exhausting
all fuel aboard is not without precedent. Seventy-three people were
killed in 1990 when a Boeing 707 flown by Colombian airline Avianca
crashed near New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport after a
flight from Medellin when it ran out of fuel, following an extended
holding pattern and an aborted landing.
The cause was blamed on poor communication between the crew and air traffic control.
Scheduled
commercial aircraft in the US are customarily flown with enough fuel to
fly their planned route, plus enough extra fuel to reach the most
distant of alternate airport options and 45 minutes of additional fuel
as a safety margin to account for adverse wind and weather conditions.
Charter
and international operators can operate under different rules,
according to Phil Derner, an FAA licensed aircraft dispatcher and editor
of the NYC Aviation news outlet.
Investigators
will reconstruct the flight's final hours using data collected from the
flight data and voice recorder, as well as maintenance and
manufacturing records. The plane's so-called "black boxes" were
recovered early Tuesday and were in excellent condition, according to
Colombian aviation officials.
The
charter flight took off from Bolivia's Viru Viru International Airport
in Santa Cruz at 6:18 p.m. local time, according to air controller
Manuel Palamas.
According to
tracking data from FlightRadar24, the aircraft entered a
racetrack-shaped holding pattern at around 20,000 feet before it
crashed.
Air accident investigators
in the United Kingdom, where the plane was manufactured, were also
dispatched to the crash site to aid Colombian authorities in determining
what happened.
Aircraft a regional workhorse
The
Avro series of regional jets were once mainstays of small US and
European airlines that eventually retired them in favor of more
efficient two-engine jets and propeller planes. The jet that crashed
Monday flew with US regional carrier Mesaba Airlines when it was first
delivered in 1999, according to the Aviation Safety Network.
According
to a July 2016 report by Boeing, the Avro family of aircraft has
suffered 14 accidents in which the aircraft was a total loss, including
seven with fatalities. Monday's crash is the eighth due to noncriminal
acts.
The crash marred what has
been an otherwise exemplary year for aviation safety. Fatalities due to
air crashes so far in 2016 are at less than half the 10-year average.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thankyou for your visites...