Plane crashes in Colombia because it ran out of fuel.

[meridannight]

That's terrible and seems almost intentional. I mean why cut it close and why would the air traffic controller not give them priority...Something isn't right for sure. I mean mistakes are made and unfortunately those mistakes can cost a lot of lives...

That was the range of the aircraft without the auxiliary tanks. Planes carry extra fuel for 30-45 minutes worth for emergencies.

I've heard two additional bits of information, that the plane skipped a refueling stop in Cobija (something to do with delayed take off, Cobija airport didn't operate after midnight); and that the auxiliary tanks were empty.

The last one is especially weird, and would indicate gross negligence on someone's part.

ABC News says it didn't have enough reserve fuel:

not enough reserve fuel

And this says the refueling pit stop was skipped:

refueling skipped

I'm not sure how accurate these reports are yet. I'd like to see them reported by other major news outlets as well.

The tower exchange was just a tragic fuck up. Either the pilot didn't impress upon the ATC of the severity of their situation soon enough, or the ATC misjudged the situation and called their priorities wrong.


I don't see any intent here. A few mistakes of different kind were made, and it cost 71 lives. Flying is no joke. You can't skip refueling and hope you'll make it to the destination intact. You absolutely have to follow all the safety protocols. Once you're up in the air there is little room to correct mistakes made on the ground.


In any case, the carrier LaMia's operator's certificate was suspended yesterday. According to wikipedia:

The crash exposed gaps in safety at the airline. LaMia did not meet IATA regulations that would have permitted it to handle the aftermath of the crash; instead, the airline had to borrow 100 coffins[clarification needed], requiring Avianca, the Colombian flag carrier, and the Colombian and Brazilian governments to step in and pick up the slack.[17] The Bolivian government proceeded to suspend LaMia's license on December 1.