In Brazil, the air traffic controller who approved the crashed LaMia flight 28 on November 2016, 2933, was arrested by the federal police. When the Avro RJ85 crashed, 71 of the 77 occupants were killed.
The four-engine regional jet was on a charter flight and crashed near Medellín (Colombia). Local media reports that the pilot is accused of having committed a number of misconduct. Under these circumstances, the take-off clearance should never have been given.
This is one of the reasons why the case caused a sensation in Brazil, because the Chapecoense football team and support staff were on board the Avro RJ85. Only one crew member, three soccer players and two supervisors survived the accident. The pilot's arrest warrant was signed by a Supreme Court judge. Allegedly, the air traffic controller is said to have last been in Bolivia. The extradition is said to have been ordered.
The official accident report of the Colombian civil aviation authority Aerocivil gives the pilots a damning certificate. The flight plan is said to have been planned so improperly that it must have been clear before departure that the amount of fuel would not be sufficient. Further pilot errors such as failing to call the Mayday emergency call when the fuel level fell below the minimum were found. Air traffic control in Medellin was never informed of the emergency.
LaMia flight 2933 took off from Santa Cruz / Viru Viru Airport (Bolivia) on November 28, 2016 and was supposed to go to Rionegro Airport (Colombia). There the Chapecoense should have participated in the final of the Copa Sudamericana. This did not happen due to the crash with many deaths. The judiciary made serious accusations against the controller in charge who approved the flight, because the judge would never have been allowed to grant permission because of a chain of errors. Bolivia agreed to be extradited to Brazil.
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