Plane Crash Near Medellin Airport Claims Brazilian Soccer Team
A BAe-146 jet aircraft (photo above) operated by Bolivia-based charter airline LaMia crashed near Medellin’s Jose Maria Cordoba (JMC) international airport around 10 p.m. November 28, killing 75 passengers and crew — including most of the members of the “Chapecoense” Brazilian soccer team.
According to the official press statement from JMC airport operator Airplan, the plane earlier had departed from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, but the pilot reported that the plane had lost electrical power only minutes before its planned arrival at JMC. A subsequent investigation by Colombia’s Aerocivil aviation regulatory agency determined that the plane lacked sufficient fuel to ensure a safe journey.
A Colombian Air Force helicopter and fire-fighters from Rionegro were immediately dispatched to the crash site at “Cerro El Gordo,” near the Medellin suburb of La Ceja and in the municipality of La Union.
Of the 72 passengers and 9 crew aboard, six survivors were reported, according to Airplan.
JMC had never before suffered a major passenger-airplane crash since its debut in 1985, although two cargo airplanes had crashed in separate incidents in 1996 and 1998, killing their crew members.
