Colombian officials blame pilot and Bolivian regulators for Chapecoense crash

Colombian officials have blamed "human error" for the plane crash that killed dozens of players from Brazil's Chapecoense football team and a group of journalists. An investigation by Colombia ruled out technical failures and laid the blame on the pilot, the airline and Bolivian regulators.

Bolivian company LaMia operated the flight that crashed into a mountainside near Medellin, Colombia, last month. A leaked recording of the pilot, Miguel Quiroga, revealed the aircraft had run out of fuel. Quiroga, who was a co-owner of the airline, died in the crash.

Only six people on board survived.

"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," Colombia's Secretary for Air Safety Colonel Freddie Bonilla told reporters.

According to the BBC, preliminary results of the investigation found the pilot failed to refuel en route and took too long to report engine failures caused by the lack of fuel. Bonilla added that Bolivian aviation authorities and the airline "accepted conditions for the flight presented in the flight plan that were unacceptable," Reuters reported.

The plane was not certified to fly at the altitude at which it flew and was also over its weight limit by nearly 400kg (881lbs). The investigation was conducted using the flight recorders and other evidence, officials said.

A previous investigation by Bolivian officials also blamed the pilot and the airline for the crash. LaMia's chief executive, Gustavo Vargas Gamboa, and his son, Gustavo Vargas Villegas, have been detained pending trial.

Vargas Gamboa was arrested on manslaughter and other charges, Reuters reported. His son, a former official with Bolivia's aviation authority, is being held on charges that he misused his influence in authorising the license for the plane that crash. Both deny any wrongdoing.

Reuters reported that criminal charges have also been brought against LaMia co-owner Marco Antonio Rocha Benegas, whose whereabouts are unknown, and air traffic controller Celia Castedo. Castedo fled Bolivia following the crash and is seeking asylum in Brazil.