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Chapecoense: Airport worker ‘pressured’ to change her flight report

Relatives of Chapecoense victims attend a vigil in Chapeco, Brazil.

Relatives of Chapecoense victims attend a vigil in Chapeco, Brazil. Photo: EPA

A Bolivian airport worker claims she warned the doomed flight carrying members of Brazil’s Chapecoense football team did not have enough fuel, but was “harassed”, “pressured” and eventually overruled by her bosses.

Her allegation came before a leading local politician labelled the air disaster that claimed 71 lives “murder”.

Celia Castedo said she was ordered to change a flight report that flagged issues with the plane, which eventually crashed near Medellín, Colombia on November 28.

Ms Castedo, who is now seeking asylum in Brazil after being accused of negligence, said that despite her concerns, she had no authority to stop the LaMia charter flight.

“I was subjected to harassment and pressure from my superiors… who ordered me to change the content of the report which hours earlier [before the flight] I had presented,” she wrote in a letter published by Bolivian media, according to the BBC.

“Based on a careful examination, I had made five observations, one of the most important of which referred to the fuel economy of the flight, which happened to be equal to the flight time.”

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The tragedy has decimated Chapecoense, claiming the lives of players and its coach. Photo: EPA

After Ms Castedo’s letter surfaced, Bolivian politicians ratcheted up attacks on those involved in the disaster.

“Definitely it was not an accident … what happened in Medellín was murder,” said Bolivian Defence Minister Reymi Ferreira.

“Anyone who dares take passengers, more than 70 people, with the exact amount of fuel is clearly violating the most basic protocols of civil aviation.”

Brazil’s Chapecoense football team boarded the flight from the Santa Cruz airport in Bolivia. It was travelling to the Colombian city of Medellín for a South America-wide final, which would have been the biggest game in the club’s history.

Leaked audio revealed that pilot Miguel Quiroga told air traffic controllers about a “lack of fuel” and “total electric failure” in the flight’s final moments.

LaMia Flight 2933 crashed into a mountainside only 17 kilometres from Medellín airport, with only six survivors among the 77 passengers, which also included members of Brazil’s sports media.

In her three-page letter, Ms Castedo wrote that she had been forced to “abandon her country” and “leave behind her children, mother, siblings, work colleagues and friends”.

She ended by expressing her “profound pain” and “regret” to the family and friends of the victims.

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A child with the Chapecoense club flag attends a vigil in Chapeco. Photo: EPA

But Bolivian officials have strenuously denied her claims, and say Ms Castedo is trying to escape justice.

“There is no argument to justify an asylum request,” said Bolivia’s interior minister, Carlos Romero, according to The Guardian.

“Logically, in a case like this there should be a process of automatic expulsion [from Brazil].”

Director of the Bolivian airline LaMia Gustavo Vargas appears in a court in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Photo: EPA

Gustavo Vargas appears in a court in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Photo: EPA

It comes as Gustavo Vargas, the chief executive of LaMia, was reportedly detained and charged with manslaughter.

Bolivian president Evo Morales has also been drawn into the aftermath of the tragedy.

Mr Morales claimed he had no knowledge that the airline was operating in his country, but images later surfaced in South American media showing him boarding a LaMia flight.

Meanwhile, Chapecoense is trying to rebuild after losing almost of all its players to the tragedy, as well as its head coach, backroom staff and officials.

One of the three surviving players, Alan Ruschel, took his first steps since the crash during the week.

“Thank you for the strength you have given me through your prayers, for the warmth and kindness I have received,” he said in a video posted to social media.

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Chapecoense has also accepted an invitation from Barcelona to play a friendly against the Spanish champions next August.

“It makes us very happy, it will be a privilege to play in the match,” Chapecoense president Ivan Tozzo told Radio RAC1 on Friday.

“We are very thankful to Barcelona and the Spanish people for sending us this invitation.”

 

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