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The stricken aeroplane came down in Colombia, resulting in the loss of 71 lives – including many members of the club’s playing and coaching staff.
It was initially suggested that technical problems had caused the tragedy, but it has now been revealed that human error was responsible.
The Civil Aeronautics agency say their conclusion is based on an investigation which involved the aircraft’s black box and other evidence.
Colonel Freddy Bonilla, Colombia’s secretary for air safety, said: “No technical factor was part of the accident, everything involved human error, added to a management factor in the company’s administration and the management and organisation of the flight plans by the authorities in Bolivia.”
He added that Bolivian aviation authorities and the airline “accepted conditions for the flight presented in the flight plan that were unacceptable”.
The BAE 146 Avro RJ85, which crashed on November 28, had a maximum range of 2,965km, just under the distance between Medellin and its intended destination of Santa Cruz in Bolivia.
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The jet was in the air for around four hours and 20 minutes when its pilot was instructed to fly in a holding pattern as another plane with a suspected fuel leak had been given priority.
A radio message from the doomed LaMia flight captured the pilot repeatedly requesting permission to land due to a lack of fuel and ‘total electric failure’.
Criminal charges have been brought against LaMia co-owner Marco Antonio Rocha Benegas and air traffic controller Celia Castedo, but the whereabouts of the former are unknown and the latter has fled Bolivia and claimed asylum in Brazil.
