LaMia Flight 2933 (LMI2933) was a charter flight of an Avro RJ85, operated by LaMia, that crashed in Colombia shortly after 22:00 local time on 28 November 2016, killing 71 of the 77 people on board. It was heading to the Colombian city of Medellin when it crashed in a mountainous area just outside it – the pilot had radioed to report that the plane had suffered an electrical failure and was out of fuel. Only six people survived.
The aircraft was transporting the Brazilian Chapecoense football squad, including 22 players, 23 coaching and other club staff, 2 guests and 21 journalists, from Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, to José María Córdova International Airport in Colombia. The team was en route to play the first leg of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals in Medellín, against Colombian team Atlético Nacional. Two of the nine crewmembers, three of the players and one journalist survived.
Due in part to the pilot reporting a lack of fuel, and that the distance between the source and destination airports was very near to, or exceeded, the maximum rated range of the aircraft, it has been speculated that the cause of the crash was fuel exhaustion.
The aircraft was on a flight from Viru Viru International Airport, in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, to José María Córdova International Airport, outside Medellín in Colombia, carrying 68 passengers and 9 crew members. Among the passengers were members of the Brazilian Associação Chapecoense de Futebol who were travelling to play their away leg of the Final for the 2016 Copa Sudamericana in Medellín against Atlético Nacional.
Brazil's national aviation authority, the Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC – National Civil Aviation Agency), had denied Chapecoense's request to use LaMia's services from São Paulo to Medellín, leading to a stop and change of aircraft in Santa Cruz. In line with the freedoms of the air governing international air traffic under the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, ANAC had required that the aircraft be operated by a Brazilian or Colombian company in order for a direct flight to take place. However the club opted to retain LaMia, which had already transported other football clubs, including teams playing in the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL) competitions, and the Argentina national team (who had flown on the same aircraft just 18 days prior). The team flew from São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport, to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, on a Boliviana de Aviación commercial flight, before embarking on the chartered aircraft.
Originally the flight was planned to have a fuel stop at the city of Cobija, on Bolivia's border with Brazil, but the flight's late departure meant the aircraft would not arrive at Cobija prior to the airport's closing time. An officer of Bolivia's Administracion de Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares a la Navegacion Aerea (AASANA — Airports and Air Navigation Services Administration) at Santa Cruz de la Sierra reportedly rejected the crew's flight plan for a direct flight to Medellín several times despite pressure from the aircraft's captain — one of LaMia's owners — to approve it, because of the aircraft's range being almost the same as the flight distance; the flight plan was reportedly altered to include a refueling stop in Bogotá instead and was approved by another AASANA officer. The distance between Santa Cruz and Medellín airports is 1,598 nautical miles (2,959 km; 1,839 mi).[14] A fuel stop in Cobija would have broken the flight into two segments: an initial segment of 514 nautical miles (952 km; 952,000 m) to Cobija followed by a flight of 1,101 nautical miles (2,039 km; 1,267 mi) to Medellín, a total of 1,615 nautical miles (2,991 km; 1,859 mi).Bogota's airport is 1,486 nautical miles (2,752 km; 1,710 mi) from Santa Cruz's airport and 116 nautical miles (215 km; 133 mi) from Medellín's.
Under standard conditions, the RJ85 has a range of approximately 1,600 nautical miles (3,000 km; 1,800 mi) with a payload of 7,800 kilograms (17,196 lb). Using the International Air Transport Association (IATA)-recommended estimate for weight of passengers and luggage of 100 kilograms (220 lb) would place the aircraft's payload at 7,700 kilograms (16,976 lb) meaning a flight from Santa Cruz to Medellín would be at the limit of the aircraft's capability. IATA's 100-kg recommendation, however, is based upon observations of international scheduled passenger flights consisting of a mix of passenger ages and genders. Failure to properly account for the weight of predominantly adult male passengers and equipment has been a contributing factor in previous crashes including the 1985 crash of Arrow Air Flight 1285 carrying US military personnel.
At 22:00 local time on 28 November (03:00 UTC, 29 November), the pilot reported electrical failure and fuel exhaustion while flying in Colombian airspace between the municipalities of La Ceja and La Unión.During the last 15 minutes the flight had completed two laps of a racetrack holding pattern, adding about 54 nautical miles (100 km; 62 mi) to its flight length. The crash site is along the approach path to José María Córdova International Airport's runway 01, ten nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) south of the runway.
Helicopters from the Colombian Air Force were initially unable to get to the site because of heavy fog in the area, while first aid workers arrived two hours after the crash to find debris strewn across an area about 100 metres (330 ft) in diameter. It was not until 02:00 on 29 November that the first survivor arrived at a hospital: Alan Ruschel, one of the members of the Chapecoense team. Seven people were found alive in the wreckage although one of them, first choice goalkeeper Danilo, died shortly after arriving at a hospital. The last survivor to be found was footballer Neto, who was discovered at 05:40. Chapecoense reserve goalkeeper Jakson Follmann, who was among survivors, later underwent a potentially life-saving leg amputation. Including Danilo, 71 of the 77 occupants died as a result of the crash; the number of dead was initially thought to be 75 but it was later revealed that 4 people had not boarded the aircraft.
Colombian Air Force personnel extracted the bodies of 70 victims from the wreckage and took them to an air force base. They were then taken to the Instituto de Medicina Legal in Medellín for identification. On the afternoon of 29 November the UAEAC reported that both flight recorders had been recovered undamaged.
The flight attendant who survived the accident stated that the aircraft ran out of fuel. The claim is being investigated by the UAEAC. Crews of other aircraft reported hearing radio reports from the Flight 2933 pilot that he was running out of fuel and needed to make an emergency landing. The person leading the investigation stated that there was "no evidence of fuel in the aircraft" and the aircraft did not explode when it crashed. The suspected cause of the crash is fuel exhaustion.
On 8 December, an investigative report by Spanish-language American media company Univision, using data from the Flightradar24 website, claimed that in eight of the twenty-three previous flights conducted by LaMia since 22 August the fuel- and loading regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization were contravened — including two flights from Medellín to Santa Cruz: one on 29 October transporting Atlético Nacional to the away leg of their Copa Sudamericana semi-final; and a flight without passengers on 4 November. The report claimed the eight flights would have used at least some of the aircraft's mandatory fuel reserves (a variable fuel quantity to allow for 45 minutes of flying time); an analyst consulted in preparing the report said this meant that the company was accustomed to operating flights at the limit of the RJ85's endurance.
The aircraft was transporting the Brazilian Chapecoense football squad, including 22 players, 23 coaching and other club staff, 2 guests and 21 journalists, from Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, to José María Córdova International Airport in Colombia. The team was en route to play the first leg of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals in Medellín, against Colombian team Atlético Nacional. Two of the nine crewmembers, three of the players and one journalist survived.
Due in part to the pilot reporting a lack of fuel, and that the distance between the source and destination airports was very near to, or exceeded, the maximum rated range of the aircraft, it has been speculated that the cause of the crash was fuel exhaustion.
The aircraft was on a flight from Viru Viru International Airport, in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, to José María Córdova International Airport, outside Medellín in Colombia, carrying 68 passengers and 9 crew members. Among the passengers were members of the Brazilian Associação Chapecoense de Futebol who were travelling to play their away leg of the Final for the 2016 Copa Sudamericana in Medellín against Atlético Nacional.
Brazil's national aviation authority, the Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC – National Civil Aviation Agency), had denied Chapecoense's request to use LaMia's services from São Paulo to Medellín, leading to a stop and change of aircraft in Santa Cruz. In line with the freedoms of the air governing international air traffic under the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, ANAC had required that the aircraft be operated by a Brazilian or Colombian company in order for a direct flight to take place. However the club opted to retain LaMia, which had already transported other football clubs, including teams playing in the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL) competitions, and the Argentina national team (who had flown on the same aircraft just 18 days prior). The team flew from São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport, to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, on a Boliviana de Aviación commercial flight, before embarking on the chartered aircraft.
Originally the flight was planned to have a fuel stop at the city of Cobija, on Bolivia's border with Brazil, but the flight's late departure meant the aircraft would not arrive at Cobija prior to the airport's closing time. An officer of Bolivia's Administracion de Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares a la Navegacion Aerea (AASANA — Airports and Air Navigation Services Administration) at Santa Cruz de la Sierra reportedly rejected the crew's flight plan for a direct flight to Medellín several times despite pressure from the aircraft's captain — one of LaMia's owners — to approve it, because of the aircraft's range being almost the same as the flight distance; the flight plan was reportedly altered to include a refueling stop in Bogotá instead and was approved by another AASANA officer. The distance between Santa Cruz and Medellín airports is 1,598 nautical miles (2,959 km; 1,839 mi).[14] A fuel stop in Cobija would have broken the flight into two segments: an initial segment of 514 nautical miles (952 km; 952,000 m) to Cobija followed by a flight of 1,101 nautical miles (2,039 km; 1,267 mi) to Medellín, a total of 1,615 nautical miles (2,991 km; 1,859 mi).Bogota's airport is 1,486 nautical miles (2,752 km; 1,710 mi) from Santa Cruz's airport and 116 nautical miles (215 km; 133 mi) from Medellín's.
Under standard conditions, the RJ85 has a range of approximately 1,600 nautical miles (3,000 km; 1,800 mi) with a payload of 7,800 kilograms (17,196 lb). Using the International Air Transport Association (IATA)-recommended estimate for weight of passengers and luggage of 100 kilograms (220 lb) would place the aircraft's payload at 7,700 kilograms (16,976 lb) meaning a flight from Santa Cruz to Medellín would be at the limit of the aircraft's capability. IATA's 100-kg recommendation, however, is based upon observations of international scheduled passenger flights consisting of a mix of passenger ages and genders. Failure to properly account for the weight of predominantly adult male passengers and equipment has been a contributing factor in previous crashes including the 1985 crash of Arrow Air Flight 1285 carrying US military personnel.
At 22:00 local time on 28 November (03:00 UTC, 29 November), the pilot reported electrical failure and fuel exhaustion while flying in Colombian airspace between the municipalities of La Ceja and La Unión.During the last 15 minutes the flight had completed two laps of a racetrack holding pattern, adding about 54 nautical miles (100 km; 62 mi) to its flight length. The crash site is along the approach path to José María Córdova International Airport's runway 01, ten nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) south of the runway.
Helicopters from the Colombian Air Force were initially unable to get to the site because of heavy fog in the area, while first aid workers arrived two hours after the crash to find debris strewn across an area about 100 metres (330 ft) in diameter. It was not until 02:00 on 29 November that the first survivor arrived at a hospital: Alan Ruschel, one of the members of the Chapecoense team. Seven people were found alive in the wreckage although one of them, first choice goalkeeper Danilo, died shortly after arriving at a hospital. The last survivor to be found was footballer Neto, who was discovered at 05:40. Chapecoense reserve goalkeeper Jakson Follmann, who was among survivors, later underwent a potentially life-saving leg amputation. Including Danilo, 71 of the 77 occupants died as a result of the crash; the number of dead was initially thought to be 75 but it was later revealed that 4 people had not boarded the aircraft.
Colombian Air Force personnel extracted the bodies of 70 victims from the wreckage and took them to an air force base. They were then taken to the Instituto de Medicina Legal in Medellín for identification. On the afternoon of 29 November the UAEAC reported that both flight recorders had been recovered undamaged.
The flight attendant who survived the accident stated that the aircraft ran out of fuel. The claim is being investigated by the UAEAC. Crews of other aircraft reported hearing radio reports from the Flight 2933 pilot that he was running out of fuel and needed to make an emergency landing. The person leading the investigation stated that there was "no evidence of fuel in the aircraft" and the aircraft did not explode when it crashed. The suspected cause of the crash is fuel exhaustion.
On 8 December, an investigative report by Spanish-language American media company Univision, using data from the Flightradar24 website, claimed that in eight of the twenty-three previous flights conducted by LaMia since 22 August the fuel- and loading regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization were contravened — including two flights from Medellín to Santa Cruz: one on 29 October transporting Atlético Nacional to the away leg of their Copa Sudamericana semi-final; and a flight without passengers on 4 November. The report claimed the eight flights would have used at least some of the aircraft's mandatory fuel reserves (a variable fuel quantity to allow for 45 minutes of flying time); an analyst consulted in preparing the report said this meant that the company was accustomed to operating flights at the limit of the RJ85's endurance.
