Officials seek answers after plane crash
SIX SURVIVE: Brazil soccer team on board
LA UNION, Colombia — Authorities searched for answers Tuesday into the crash of an airliner that slammed into the Andes Mountains while transporting a Brazilian soccer team whose Cinderella story had won it a spot in the final of one of South America’s most prestigious tournaments. All but six of the 77 people on board were killed.
The British Aerospace 146 shorthaul plane declared an emergency and lost radar contact late Monday. The black boxes had been recovered and were being analyzed.
The aircraft departed from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, carrying the Chapecoense soccer team from southern Brazil for the first leg of a two-game Copa Sudamericana final against Atletico Nacional of Medellin. Twenty-one Brazilian journalists were also on board.
Initially it was said the plane suffered an electrical failure but there was also heavy rainfall at the time. There was also the possibility the plane ran out of fuel, according to a surviving flight attendant.
The tragedy threw soccer-mad Brazil into collective grief and an official three-day mourning period.
Chapecoense had a fairy tale season, reaching the tournament final just two years after making it into the first division for the first time since the 1970s.
Survivors included Chapecoense defender Alan Ruschel, who was transported to a facility to undergo surgery for a spinal fracture. Teammates Helio Zampier and Jakson Follmann also suffered multiple trauma injuries, with doctors having to amputate goalkeeper Follmann’s right leg.
A journalist travelling with the team was recovering from surgery and two Bolivian crew members were in stable condition, hospital officials said. Some players stayed behind because of injuries. A forgotten passport kept the son of the team’s coach, Caio Júnior, off the flight that claimed the life of his father. — With files from The Washington Post