A civilian airliner carrying members of the Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense crashed in Colombia. Military expert, instructor pilot Andrey Krasnoperov told the correspondent Federal News Agency O possible reasons plane crashes.
According to preliminary information, the civil aircraft (model and number are still unknown - editor's note) was heading from Bolivia to Medellin and disappeared from radar screens in the area of the Colombian city of Rionegro.
During the flight, the aircraft commander informed dispatchers at the nearby Medellin Cordoba airport about an acute shortage of fuel. The plane was given priority for landing, but it was never able to reach the air harbor.
“To begin with, we note that the plane flying from Bolivia may not have undergone major repairs for a long time due to its heavy workload. In addition, we do not know how the plane was maintained, so some kind of technical malfunction could have played a role. But the situation with fuel is more real here. If the plane took off with its minimum remaining, it might well not have made it. The amount of fuel must be calculated by the navigator, and if you consider that there are no such on planes now, there is only a left pilot and a right pilot, and the role of the navigator is performed by a computer, the situation becomes possible. I remember there was a case when a squadron of Tu-22 aircraft was flying, and during the flight the navigator thought that there might not be enough fuel - they just sat down. It should have been the same here,” Krasnoperov emphasized.
It was initially reported that everyone on board died during the crash. However, later, Radio 360 disseminated information that some still managed to survive - rescuers found at least six survivors at the scene of the disaster. It should be noted that in Medellin the Chapecoense team was supposed to play in the first match of the Copa Sudamericana final against the Colombian Atlético Nacional. The game was scheduled for the evening of November 30th.
“If the ship’s commander reported that there was a shortage of fuel, he, of course, had to make a decision and land at the nearest airfield, but apparently they wanted to hold out, the human factor. About the same thing happened near Smolensk, when the Polish president crashed - we also had to fly to an alternate airfield. And here we have what we have. In this case, the rush factor came into play - the athletes, the football players had a game, the coach said “to get there by any means.” Landing at another airfield was not allowed, otherwise plans would be disrupted and everything else. Well, such moments happen in flight practice. When the “must” command prevails over flight safety,” the expert concluded.
Let us remind you that the Brazilian football club Chapecoense plays in top division Brazilian Championship. The team captain is a midfielder Kleber Santana, who played, in particular, for Atletico Madrid.
In the 1940s, Torino were the giants of Italian football. The best for that confirmation - three championship titles of the "Grenade Squadron" from 1946 to 1948. On May 4, 1949, Torino football players were returning from an away match with the Portuguese Benfica to Turin on a three-engine Fiat plane. The plane made an intermediate landing in Barcelona for refueling, during which the Torino players talked with the Milan players who were transferring to a flight to Madrid. The Rossoneri were the last to capture the Turin team alive.
Closer to five in the evening, when only a few kilometers remained from Turin, the airliner entered a dense strip of fog. The pilot lost orientation, the plane descended and the left wing touched the fence of the Superga Basilica located on the hill. The car spun and crashed into the ground at high speed. All 18 football players on board, including the captain of the Italian national team Valentino Mazzola, were killed in the disaster. Fate favored only one Torino player - Lauro Toma. Due to injury, he was forced to stay at home. By the way, “Torino” with its youth team retained the first place in the standings.
Manchester United. February 6, 1958
On this fateful day, British European Airways charter flight BE609 from Belgrade to Manchester stopped to refuel in Munich. On board were 21 representatives of the English football club Manchester United, who were returning home after the second leg of the European Cup quarter-final match with Red Star Belgrade.
The pilots made two attempts to take off, but both times were stopped due to engine problems. However, not wanting to fall behind schedule, they decided to give it one more try. The snowfall that started couldn't stop them either. Irish striker Liam Whelan responded to the pilots' eagerness: "It may be death, but I'm ready for it."
The pilots desperately tried to lift the plane off the ground, but it, having driven its wheels into the snow porridge, continued to rush along the runway. At a speed of almost 200 km/h, the plane rammed a fence and crashed into a private house.
By luck, the residents were not injured, but of the 44 people on board the plane, 23 were killed and another 19 were injured. Manchester United lost eight players (including Liam Whelan) and three members of the coaching staff in the disaster. Among the survivors was Bobby Charlton, future star English football, - at the time of the accident he was thrown out of the cabin along with the seat.
"Strongest". September 26, 1969
On the evening of Friday September 26, 1969, the Bolivian football club Strongest was returning by plane to La Paz after a friendly game. This was the best period in the history of one of the oldest football clubs in Bolivia.
After several hours of flight, the Douglas crew stopped communicating. At this time, a snow front hit the Andes, and dispatchers hastened to declare an emergency. Only a day later, in the heart of the Andes, not far from the town of Viloko on the slope of Mount Choquetanga, a group of miners discovered the wreckage of the plane, and a day later a search team arrived there.
It was never possible to establish the cause of the disaster. But it is worth noting that the tragedy happened on the day when a military coup took place in the country. All 74 people on board died, 19 of them were players and coaches of the Strongest club. Five years later, the updated “Strongest” again won the Bolivian championship.
"Pakhtakor". August 11, 1979
One of the worst disasters in the history of Soviet aviation occurred in the skies over the Ukrainian Dneprodzerzhinsk on August 11, 1979. On that day, due to the fault of air traffic controllers (however, the version of a training missile being hit is also tenable), two passenger aircraft TU-134 of Aeroflot company. One of the planes was flying Voronezh - Chisinau, the other - Tashkent - Minsk. Popular in the USSR flew in the latter football team"Pakhtakor" for the next match of the national championship with "Dynamo" Minsk.
None of the 178 people on both planes survived. If the plane heading to Chisinau immediately disintegrated in the air, then the plane flying to Minsk, having lost its tail, part of the right wing and one of the engines, still tried to make an emergency landing, but at an altitude of 4 kilometers entered a steep dive and crashed to the ground. There were 14 players and three representatives of the coaching staff of the Tashkent Pakhtakor.
For almost 23 years sports world did not declare mourning due to plane crashes in which members of football teams died. Brazilian club Chapecoense, which was supposed to transport team members and journalists to the match with Atlético Nacional in the Copa Sudamericana. There were 72 passengers and 9 crew members on board the plane. Rescue operations are currently underway at the crash site. According to preliminary information, six passengers managed to survive. The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) has suspended all matches under its auspices. We look back at other cases of air disasters that have affected the world of football.
1. May 4, 1949. "Torino"
In the late 40s of the last century, Torino was one of the top clubs in Italy, ahead of even its neighbors Juventus in fame and popularity. From 1946 to 1948, the Bulls won the championship three times under captaincy Valentino Mazzola, father of the legendary Sandro Mazzola.
On May 3, 1949, Torino played a match with Benfica in Lisbon, which ended in defeat - 3:4. The players' spirits were lifted by a meeting with friends from Milan in Barcelona. The Turin plane landed at the local airport to refuel, while the Milanese were transferring to a flight to Madrid. As it turned out, the Rossoneri were the last to see the Torino players alive. The team's plane entered an area of increased fog, the pilot lost orientation in space and his left wing touched the fence of a basilica built on a hill. The plane turned around and hit the ground with force. Everyone on board died. Of the players, only Lauro Toma remained, who did not fly to the match due to injury.
2. February 6, 1958. Manchester United
One of the most resonant disasters in the history of world sports. The Busby Babes have forever entered the annals of English football and left an indelible mark on the hearts of fans around the world. The tragedy that occurred on February 6, 1958 at Munich airport became even more terrible. Despite the fact that air travel was considered a high risk at the time, Manchester United flew throughout Europe, combining performances in England on weekends and European Cup matches on weekdays. The club booked a charter flight for the match with Red Star in Belgrade. The problems began in Munich, where the plane landed for refueling. After two unsuccessful take-off attempts, the crew was ready to reschedule the flight, but in the end a third attempt was made, which ended in tragedy. The plane did not have time to take off in time and rammed a house with a hangar in which a car with fuel was parked. 21 people died instantly, including eight United players. In 1960, a clock with the date "6 February 1958" at the top and the words "Munich" at the bottom was installed in the south-east stand at Old Trafford, and remains there to this day. Every year on February 6, when their hands show the time of the plane crash - 15 hours 4 minutes, a minute of silence is announced at Old Trafford in memory of the victims of the Munich disaster.
A dark date in the history of Manchester United
51 years ago, a plane carrying football players from the English club Manchester United crashed at Munich-Riem airport.
3. July 16, 1960. Denmark national team
In the early 60s there was no professional football in Denmark as such. Players were prohibited from even playing for foreign clubs under threat of not being called up to the national team. Nevertheless, the Danes were diligently preparing to compete for entry into Olympic Games in Rome. From Copenhagen Airport to Herning for the match national team Eight players were eliminated. The plane crashed 50 meters from the coast due to bad weather conditions. Only the pilot and football player survived Sig Vindelov, which was found by fishermen near the shore. The other player was lucky too - Eric Dureborg, who was removed from the flight due to disgusting behavior at the airport. The Danish team seriously considered withdrawing from the tournament, but in the end they won silver medals in Rome.
4. April 3, 1961. "Green Cross"
A year later, another football team crashed in a plane crash. Green Cross, which played in the first division of the Chilean championship, took off from Santiago airport for the next round match. The players were not destined to reach the place - the entire crew and passengers died after the plane collided with the Las Lastimas mountain range in the Cordillera.
5. September 26, 1969. "Strongest"
On September 26, 1969, a military coup took place in Bolivia. However, this event also faded into the background when, on the same day, the largest plane crash in history occurred in the country. The passenger airliner collided with a mountain in the Cordillera massif. All 74 passengers, including 16 football players and coaching staff best team countries "Strongest", died. The South American Football Federation declared mourning and allocated $20 thousand to the club. Many players who previously played for Strongest returned to the club at a reduced rate. Five years later, the club again won the Bolivian championship.
6. December 31, 1970. Air Liquid
A few months later, the plane carrying the Algerian Air Liquid team to Spain for a friendly tournament did not reach its destination. All passengers and crew members were killed.
7. August 11, 1979. "Pakhtakor"
One of the worst sports tragedies in history occurred in the late 70s. Soviet football. Tashkent Pakhtakor, flying to a match in Minsk, was involved in a plane crash, which became one of the largest in the history of the country. Two planes collided in the sky over Dneprodzerzhinsk - none of the passengers on both aircraft managed to survive. Among the 178 dead were 17 members of Pakhtakor. Due to the fact that the team was popular in the country, it was impossible to keep silent about the tragedy. All members of the football team were buried in Tashkent at the Botkin cemetery of the city, where a monument was erected to them. And Pakhtakor itself, according to the rule included in the regulations, during three years retained his place in the elite division of the USSR.
The first Russian football publication and Dick Advocaat's debut in the Russian national team. What else is August 11 remembered in the history of football?
8. December 8, 1987. "Alianza Lima"
In December 1987, 43 people - football players, managers, coaches and fans of the Peruvian team Alianza Lima - died in a plane crash. Their plane, carrying passengers home after a national championship match, crashed into the sea six miles north of the country's capital, Lima.
9. June 7, 1989. Dutch football players
The football world could have lost Frank Rijkaard And Ruud Gullita at the height of their football glory. Fortunately, both stars did not travel to their historical homeland in Suriname to participate in a tournament with three local clubs. Rijkaard, Gullit, Aron Winter And Brian Roy refused the flight, citing the desire to properly prepare for the new season. This decision saved their lives. The pilots of the plane, taking off from Amsterdam, made a mistake when landing in Paramaribo and hit a tree with its wing. As a result of the crash, 11 people out of 187 survived. All 15 football players on board died.
10. April 27, 1993. Zambia national team
The Zambian Air Force organized a special flight to take their national team to Dakar, where they were to play a 1994 World Cup qualifying match against Senegal. During the first refueling, problems were discovered with one of the engines. However, the pilot decided to continue the flight. As a result, a few minutes after takeoff, the engine caught fire and the plane fell into the water 500 meters from the coast. All passengers died. Of the Zambian team, only the one who traveled independently from the Netherlands survived Kalusha Bwalya and an injured goalkeeper Charles Musonda.
Brazilian footballers lost their lives in a plane crash at the peak of their careers
A major plane crash occurred in Colombia: a plane carrying 72 passengers and 9 crew members, including the Brazilian football team Chapecoense, crashed. The son of Paulo Paixau, who coached CSKA Moscow, died along with the team. Anderson Paixau was 27 years old.
A rescue and search operation was launched in the area of the tragedy. Several survivors were pulled from the rubble near the Colombian city of Medellin. Among them are football players who were flying to a match as part of the South American Cup.
The media note that the team has recently enjoyed success: for the first time since its founding, it entered the Brazilian first division. Shortly before the crash, the players were smiling and joking.
According to police officers working at the scene of the tragedy, 76 people were confirmed dead. Antioquia provincial police chief General José Acevedo said there was no hope of finding other survivors. Visibility in the crash area remains poor due to tropical rains that have been falling there over the past few days. The search was also complicated by the fact that the wreckage was located in inaccessible mountainous terrain.
It is reported that before the crash, the crew contacted the airport, which they were already approaching, and reported that there had been a power failure on board and that they were running out of fuel. Lack of fuel is considered one of the versions of the cause of the tragedy. According to the British tabloid Daily Mirror, the pilot managed to get rid of the remaining fuel seconds before the crash so that the fall would not provoke an explosion. Judging by the photo from the scene of the tragedy, the plane broke in two.
The crashed vessel (a British-made BAe 146 commercial mid-size jet) belonged to the Bolivian-Venezuelan charter airline Lamia.
The Chapecoense team of 22 people, as well as accompanying coaches, journalists and guests, with the participation of the Colombian club Atlético Nacional. Athletes' Instagram accounts are full of funny photos taken at the airport and on the plane.
According to the Colombian English-language publication The City Paper Bogota, the Brazilians first flew on Monday from Sao Paulo, made a stop in Bolivia and flew from the Bolivian Santa Cruz to Medellin. There were about fifty kilometers left to the destination when the crew reported an emergency on board.
At least three of the players survived: 27-year-old defenseman Alan Ruschel and goalkeepers 31-year-old Marcos Danilo Padilla and 24-year-old Jackson Vollmann. It is known about Ruschel that he has a broken hip and a head injury. The Daily Mirror notes that at the hospital in La Ceja, he even found the strength to ask the doctors to look after his wedding ring. Flight attendant Jimena Suarez and Brazilian journalist Rafael Enze were also taken to the hospital. The Colombian Civil Aviation Authority reported that in addition to the three football players and the journalist, two crew members were found alive. But on the way to the hospital, one of the people found died.
From the MK dossier:
Plane crashes in which athletes died
February 6, 1958— a plane of the British airline British European Airways crashed after the third attempt to take off at Munich Airport (Germany). On board were players of the English football club Manchester United, as well as several coaches, fans and journalists. Of the 44 people on board, 23 died.
July 16, 1960- in the Danish city of Oresund, a plane carrying players of the Danish national football team crashed. All 8 passengers died as a result of the plane crash. The pilot miraculously survived.
August 11, 1979- in the USSR, as a result of a collision in the sky of two Tu-134 aircraft, 17 players and coaches of the Tashkent club “Pakhtakor”, flying to Minsk for the next match of the USSR championship, were killed.
June 7, 1989- While landing at the airport of the capital of Suriname, Paramaribo, a DC-8-62 plane, arriving from Amsterdam, crashed. Among the victims were 23 Dutch football players of Surinamese origin.
April 27, 1993- as a result of a plane crashing into the sea off the coast of Gabon, 18 football players from the Zambian national team were killed while flying qualifying match for the World Cup with the Senegal team.
September 7, 2011- after takeoff from Yaroslavl airport, the Yak-42D plane crashed, on board which was hockey team"Lokomotiv" (Yaroslavl). 44 people died (36 passengers and 8 crew members).
Help "MK": « Football club Chapocoense was formed in 1973 as a result of the merger of two teams, Atlético Chapocoense and Independente. It took the club less than 5 years to become the winners of the Santa Catarina state championship and win the right to compete in the top Brazilian division, in which, however, Chapocoense did not stay long and in subsequent years the team took part in tournaments of a lower rank. In 2013, the club from the city of Chapeco returned to the elite Brazilian division.”
EXPERT OPINION
A version has emerged that the plane crashed allegedly because the pilots did not have enough fuel to land. How is this possible? Vladimir Salnikov, a former Aeroflot pilot with 45 years of experience, answered this question from MK:
The volume of aircraft fueling is selected taking into account the distance to the destination and the distance to the reserve airfield. So that suddenly, due to some reasons - bad weather, unsuitability of the runway, other troubles - the commander had the opportunity to go to an alternate airfield.
But it happens when you arrive at an alternate airfield, and there, too, some kind of cloud flies in and it begins to rain or snow, that is, the weather is not suitable for landing according to the conditions of the commander’s permitted minimum. It is in this case that refueling should be enough to reach the reserve airfield plus 30 minutes. This general rule, enshrined in ICAO standards.
During these 30 minutes you can walk around in the waiting area, waiting for the weather. But if suddenly the weather still does not improve, then the commander is given the right to land the plane in violation of the landing minimum allowed to him. That is, the commander is offered a choice: either to land in the mountains, in the steppe, or at an airfield where there are at least some landing systems.
At the same time, keep in mind: we pilots practice situations of this kind in simulators. When we train, we sometimes encounter extreme weather conditions. That is, the pilot always has the opportunity, even if not 100 percent, but at least 90 percent, to try to apply these skills.
Over the course of my 45 years of flying practice, I can remember about seven similar cases when guys in our country came to an alternate airfield and were forced to land below their minimum while there was still fuel in the tanks. Yes, the conditions were extreme, but all landings were successful. Such pilots were usually thanked for their skill and courage, sometimes even awarded orders for making a competent decision.
Why the commander did not decide to land at an alternate airfield, I don’t know. If there was a very heavy downpour, then in this case, ICAO documents give him the right to take the chance and land the plane in worse conditions than those in which he is prepared to fly. He didn't take advantage of this chance. I can’t understand what he was hoping for, especially since everything happened in the mountains.
In this case, I would have made more than one attempt at landing at an alternate airfield in rainy conditions, but I would have definitely tried to land. And even if the plane slipped off the runway or rolled out somewhere, it wouldn’t matter. It is better to have minor injuries, but live passengers on board, than to kill everyone. And when the fuel runs out, the pilot is already powerless, the plane becomes uncontrollable - it flies wherever God sends.
On the night of November 29, a regional airliner carrying football players from the Brazilian club Chapecoense crashed in Colombia. Club employees and journalists were also on board. 76 people died, five more were taken to hospital by rescuers.
The plane crashed for an unknown reason before reaching 30 kilometers from Medellin airport in Colombia.
The airliner LMI2933 took off from the Bolivian Santa Cruz de la Sierra at 18:18 pm on November 28 local time (1:18 Moscow time). In five hours (6:00 Moscow time) the pilots reported dispatchers about problems on board related to power supply. The airport cleared the runway for an emergency landing, and the plane began flying in circles to run out of fuel, according to FlightRadar24 data.
Another 15 minutes later the plane crashed near the city of La Union. It broke into two pieces when it hit the ground. What exactly caused the disaster is unknown. Rescuers have not yet found the flight recorders; Search efforts have been suspended due to heavy rain. It is possible that the plane may have run out of fuel.
Almost the entire Chapecoense football team died in the disaster.
The Brazilian club was flying to Medellin for the final match of the Copa Sudamericana, in which Chapecoense was to meet with the Colombian Atlético Nacional. There were 22 football players on the plane. In addition, there were 25 more club representatives on board (coaches, doctors, managers), as well as data Caracol Radio, three “friends of the club”. 22 journalists flew with Chapecoense to the match. According to the latest data, 76 people died.
Five people survived
Rescuers took four passengers and a flight attendant to the hospital. The condition of the two victims is assessed as stable, the surviving football player Alan Ruschel is conscious. In addition to Ruschel, goalkeepers Marcos Danilo and Jackson Folman survived the crash. Brazilian journalist Rafael Hensel also managed to escape. The only survivor of the crew was flight attendant Ximena Suarez.
The Civil Aviation Authority also reported that flight engineer Erwin Tumiri survived the crash. Local media found out that defender Elio Neto could also have survived the fall. Officially, the police reported that only five people survived; another victim died on the way to the hospital.
The team should not have been on this flight
According to El Tiempo, shortly before departure, the Brazilian Civil Aviation Authority banned Chapecoense from chartering to Medellin, forcing the team to book a commercial flight.
Football clubs around the world expressed their condolences to the Brazilian team
One of the first about solidarity announced at Atlético Nacional, with whom Chapecoense was flying to a match. Words of condolences came from other clubs and players, including Russian. The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) has already announced that all games will be suspended for now.
Manchester United's thoughts are with Chapecoense and those affected by the tragedy in Colombia.
Updated:
Black boxes found from crashed plane in Colombia
The flight recorders of the plane that crashed on November 29, 30 kilometers from Medellin airport, have been found in Colombia. This was reported by the Colombian Civil Aviation Authority.
The black boxes are in good condition, the department said.
Plane that crashed in Colombia required landing due to lack of fuel
Before the disaster, the pilot of flight LMI2933 that crashed in Colombia, Miguel Quiroga, loudly demanded that air traffic controllers land due to lack of fuel. Sources of the newspaper El Tiempo told about this.
By the time of the fall, the plane was already making its third waiting circle near the airport, since landing priority was assigned to another flight from Bogota, which had previously reported problems with its instruments.
Surviving flight attendant Jimena Suarez also spoke about the fuel shortage. However, in the official preliminary report on the crash, Colombian authorities stated that the pilot reported to dispatchers only about problems with electronics.
Rescuers also finally established the number of victims of the disaster. There were only 68 passengers on board, not 72 as previously reported. Four people missed their flight. Of the 77 passengers and crew members, seven survived the disaster; one survivor subsequently died in hospital.
Sources say the pilot of the LaMia flight, Miguel Alejandro Quiroga Murakami, continuously raised his voice and asked to land due to lack of fuel, and then directed the plane towards the airport (Spanish).EL TIEMPO
