It's been more than a month since the tragic plane crash in the mountains of Colombia killed 71 people including most of the players from the chapecoense football team. Now, after investigations by Colombia's Civil Aeronautics agency, it has been concluded that the air disaster was due to human error. It was also mentioned that the flight did not meet all the international standards.
"No technical factor was part of the accident; everything involved human error, added to a management factor in the company's administration and the management and organisation of the flight plans by the authorities in Bolivia," bbc.com quoted Colombia's Secretary for Air Safety, Col Freddy Bonilla as saying.
The plane was in the air for about four hours and twenty minutes when air traffic control in Medellin put it into a holding pattern because another flight had reported a suspected fuel leak and was given priority. Investigators also found out that the crew members were aware that the aircraft was short on fuel but waited too long to report it.
Bonilla also mentioned that they heard a conversation between the pilot and the co-pilot talking about stopping in Leticia to refuel but they decided not to. As the plane entered Colombia it was flying into wind which caused the aircraft to use up more fuel. When the pilot requested priority landing in Medellin, six minutes before crashing, the plane had already spent two minutes with the motors turned off.
In a radio message received by the officials we can hear the pilot repeatedly requesting permission to due to lack of fuel and a total electronic failure. In addition, there was no explosion upon the crash which points to lack of fuel in the aircraft. Authorities also revealed that the plane was over its weight limit by nearly 400 KG's and should not have been flying at the altitude in which the trip took place.
The final report by Colombia's aviation agency will be released in April 2017. Bolivia's government has already blamed the airline and its pilot for the accident.
LaMia's chief executive, Gustavo Vargas Gamboa, and his son, Gustavo Vargas Villegas, a former official with Bolivia's aviation authority, have already been detained pending trial. They deny any wrongdoing.
