Thousands expected to attend stadium memorial for Colombian plane crash victims

Miguel Quiroga, the pilot of the British-made Avro RJ85 aircraft, had been warned by an official at Santa Cruz airport, in Bolivia, where the plane took off from, that he might not have enough fuel, Bolivian Deber newspaper said.

British and Brazilian investigators headed to Colombia to help with the probe, authorities said. “We were very close friends, this is very hard to take”.

The video has been released just a day after chilling footage emerged of Chapecoense players beginning their journey to Colombia before the crash.

“It’s a plane with all the conditions for making medium-distance trips, with all the necessary safety conditions”, he added.

Supporters of Brazil’s Chapecoense soccer team gather for a memorial to remember the players who died in a plane crash in Colombia, at Arena Condado stadium in Chapeco, Brazil, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016.

Club Vice President Luiz Antonio Palaoro said LAMIA had a track record of transporting soccer teams around South America, and it had used the airline before.

Atletico Nacional has offered the title to Chapecoense, although directors of the Brazilian club said they liked the idea of sharing the honor. We chose this company for technical reasons.

He said CONMEBOL, the governing body of South American football, was not involved in choosing LaMia.

The pilot appears to ask for authorisation to land the plane, before being told that another aircraft was given preference due to mechanical problems, instructing the doomed flight to wait further.

As the plane circled in a holding pattern, the pilot grew more desperate.

“When we arrived at the accident site and were able to inspect the remains we could confirm that the aircraft had no fuel at the time of impact”, said Freddy Bonilla, secretary of airline security at Colombia’s aviation authority. But the controller says another plane is about to make an emergency landing and that the runway will not be ready. But it was too late.

Before the conversation ends the pilot is head saying he is flying at an altitude of 9,000ft.

Colombian officials say evidence is growing that the plane ran out of fuel.

The capital Bogota was mentioned on the flight plan as a possible refuelling stop, but the plane did not land there.

“Profit brings greed”, Machado said.

Club leaders said they hope to organise a mass wake for the bodies at the stadium, with as many as 100,000 people in attendance from the southern city of Chapeco.

PSG’s Edinson Cavani paid tribute to Chapecoense after his goal against Angers in Ligue 1.

The crash killed 71 people including most of the Chapecoense football team from Brazil.

Brazil has declared three days of national mourning. Six people survived in the crashed. One player, Jakson Follmann, had his right-leg amputated, while defender Alan Rushel was recovering from delicate surgery for a spinal fracture.

Italy’s Corriere dello Sport reported that Torino, who went through a similar tragedy in 1949, had expressed an interest in playing a friendly to benefit the club.