As air safety
officials begin their investigation into the deadly crash of LAMIA flight 2933
near Medellin, Colombia, the final resting place of the jet's wreckage may
prove to be a central clue in determining why the airplane crashed.
The crash killed at least
71 people during a charter flight to Medellin, including
members of the Brazilian
Chapecoense soccer squad on its way to the Copa Sudamericana
finals. Three players, two crew members and one journalist survived, Colombian
authorities said.
The lack of apparent
fire damage among the wreckage of the British Aerospace Avro RJ85 is pointing
investigators to consider fuel starvation as one of the contributing factors to
Monday's crash, a person familiar with the early inquiry said.
Fuel starvation occurs
when fuel is cut off from the engines, causing them to stop running. It can be
caused by a number of factors including a fuel leak, internal icing, failure of
the fuel pumps or gauges, or crew error.
Alfredo Bocanegra,
director of the Colombia Civil Aviation Authority, said even though a
preliminary investigation pointed to an electrical problem, the possibility the
plane ran out of fuel has not been ruled out, CNN Italian affiliate ANSA
reported. However, Bocanegra said investigators would have to ascertain why the
aircraft didn't have enough fuel, because it was just 5 miles away from the
airport.
The Colombian Civil
Aviation Authority declined to comment further on technical details. Photos
released by Civil Aviation Authorities showed debris from the four-engine Avro
RJ85 strewn across a hillside with no apparent charring amongst the wreckage.
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