[Peetwo]

LAMIA Bolivia Avro RJ85 tragic Colombian accident.

Although it is still very early in the accident investigation the following is being reported this AM EST Australia.

First via Flight Global:

Fuel emergency reported by Bolivian Avro RJ85 before fatal crash

• 30 November, 2016
  
• BY: Rainer Uphoff
  
• Madrid
  

The flight crew of the Bolivian British Aerospace Avro RJ85 that crashed in Colombia had declared a fuel emergency while waiting to land at Medellin airport in Rionegro, according to an air traffic control recording.

Operated by charter carrier LAMIA Bolivia, the aircraft was awaiting clearance for final approach to the airport, which had been temporarily closed due to an unscheduled arrival of a VivaColombia flight.

The pilot of the Avro RJ85 initially mentioned an "issue with fuel" while communicating with Medellin airport's ATC, according to the recording reviewed by FlightGlobal.

The air traffic controller responded and said the runway at Medellin would re-open within about 7min, and indicated that LAMIA Bolivia will be given priority to land over other flights operated by Avianca and LATAM Airlines Group.

The LAMIA Bolivia flight was assigned FL210 but declared a fuel emergency 2min later, which prompted ATC to assign the aircraft an approach path while warning the crew of other aircraft below and ahead of it. However, the LAMIA Bolivia crew said they were already below the other aircraft, which were holding at FL180.

About 4.5min after declaring a fuel emergency, the LAMIA Bolivia crew alerted ATC to a "total electrical and fuel failure" and repeatedly shouted: "Give me vectors".

The air traffic controller attempted to guide the pilot to the Rionegro VOR but said she could not ascertain the aircraft's altitude. The pilot confirmed that the aircraft was at an altitude of 9,000ft and again requested for vectors.

ATC told the crew that they were 8.2miles from the runway, which has an elevation of 7,000ft.

ATC subsequently lost contact with the aircraft, 6min after it declared an emergency.
Medellin airport had temporarily closed its runway following the diversion of a VivaColombia Airbus A320 to the airport after its flight crew reported a cabin alert. VivaColombia says the flight crew had diverted as a precautionary measure and did not declare an emergency. The VivaColombia aircraft was operating from Bogota to San Andres.

Aerocivil

The crash of the Avro RJ85, which broke into pieces after coming down in a mountainous area, killed 71 people while six survived. Colombian authorities initially reported that 81 people had been on board, but subsequently revised the passenger numbers.

There were no signs of fire at the crash site of the aircraft, indicating that the jet could have run out of fuel. A source at Argentina's transport ministry tells FlightGlobal that Argentine authorities were investigating LAMIA Bolivia after its aircraft arrived in Buenos Aires earlier this month with insufficient fuel on board.

Questions have also been raised over LAMIA Bolivia's operation of the Avro RJ85, which has an operational range that is just slightly above the distance of the flight between Medellin and Santa Cruz in Bolivia, where the aircraft took off from.

Next from Reuters via the Oz:

Colombia crash: Other pilot says LAMIA Airlines plane low on fuel

The pilot of a LAMIA Airlines plane that crashed in Colombia, wiping almost an entire Brazilian soccer team, had radioed that he was running out of fuel and needed to make an emergency landing, according to the co-pilot of another plane in the area.

The crash on Monday night killed 71 people. Six survived, including just three members of the Chapecoense soccer squad en route to the biggest game in their history, the Copa Sudamericana final.

Avianca co-pilot Juan Sebastian Upegui said in a chat message with friends that the LAMIA pilot told the control tower at the airport in Medellin that he was in trouble.


The crash site in a mountainous area near Medellin, Colombia. Picture: AP

Priority had already been given to a plane from airline VivaColombia, which had also reported problems, Upegui said. Reuters confirmed the audio message, which local media played on Wednesday, was from Upegui.

After reporting being low on fuel, the LAMIA pilot then said he was experiencing electrical difficulties before the radio went silent.

“Mayday mayday ... Help us get to the runway ... Help, help,” Upegui described the pilot as saying. “Then it ended ... We all started to cry.”

The BAe 146, made by BAE Systems Plc, slammed into a mountainside. Besides the three players, a journalist and two crew members survived.

One survivor, Bolivian flight technician Erwin Tumiri, said he only saved himself by strict adherence to security procedure, while others panicked. “Many passengers got up from their seats and started yelling,” he told Colombia’s Radio Caracol. “I put the bag between my legs and went into the fetal position as recommended.”

Bolivian flight attendant Ximena Suarez, another survivor, said the lights went out less than a minute before the plane slammed into the mountain, according to Colombian officials in Medellin.

Of the players, goalkeeper Jackson Follmann was recovering from the amputation of his right leg, doctors said.

Another player, defender Helio Neto, remained in intensive care with severe trauma to his skull, thorax and lungs.

Fellow defender Alan Ruschel had spine surgery.

Reuters
Timeline.

Based on the rapidly emerging & disturbing facts, PT takes the MSM speculation to another level in this article today:

Ugly truth about football team air crash disaster comes out
Ben Sandilands Dec 1, 2016
There are no secrets kept when new media covers air crashes

On twitter Carol H asked: "..How does this happen in this day and age!.."
Well where do I start...
Now I know we are talking about poorer South American countries, operators and civil aviation authorities with perhaps less than stellar aviation safety standards but as PT intimates we are not immune to such aberrations and several classic minimum fuel related occurrences spring to mind - Read: O&O post #61 or Four incidents, a ditching & two cover-ups?

And after nearly 2 decades since this safety issue was 1st identified what is our esteemed, envy of the world, (self-assessed) 96%+ ICAO compliant, fully independent & Annex 13 defined ATSB, doing about helping industry mitigate this safety risk?

Read here: "Better, better get a bucket - better make that two .."

MTF...P2