Colombia Plane Crash Was Co-Pilot's First Flight With the Airline

The co-pilot of the plane that crashed Monday night in Colombia and killed 71 people was completing her first flight with LaMia, the Bolivian airline chartered to operate flight 2933, her father said in an emotional interview.

Sisy Arias was trying to build up her flying hours, according to her father, Jorge Arias, a Bolivian journalist.

Jorge Arias said he doesn't blame anyone for the crash but he is upset at the pilot for miscalculating how much gas much has was left on the aircraft and what was needed to land safely. He also said he cannot blame the air traffic controller for making the pilot wait because the controller didn't know the full extent of how low the plane was on fuel.

"Those five minutes cost all of those people their lives," Jorge Arias told reporters, calling the tragedy a "direct flight over there to the sun" and a "flight without a return."

Arias' last words to her father were, "Don't worry. We'll see each other Saturday," Jorge Arias said.

"And Saturday will come, but without her," the grieving father said. 

The charter flight was carrying Chapecoense, a Brazilian soccer team on its way from Bolivia to play against Medellin's Atletico Nacional in the finals of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana on Wednesday.

The plane did not have enough of the required reserve fuel needed in case of an emergency, Aerocivil, Colombia's civil aviation authority, announced Wednesday. The plane suffered an electrical failure before the crash, according to the official Twitter account for Jose Maria Cordova International Airport.

Six people survived the crash, including three players, two crew members and a journalist.

Survivor of 2006 ADC plane crash in Abuja which killed 96 people tells his amazing story

On October 29th, 2006, a Boeing 737 operated by ADC Airlines crashed near the Abuja airport shortly after takeoff, claiming so many lives, including that of the then Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Maccido.

The flight carrying 100 passengers and five crew members departed Lagos to Sokoto with an intermediate stop in Abuja.


Shortly after taking off from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the plane crashed, broke up and caught fire in a corn field. 96 people died, including a woman working on the field, who was reportedly killed after being struck by debris from the crash.

 The primary cause of the crash was bad weather but the immediate cause was the pilot's refusal to acknowledge warning given to him by the control tower not to take off due to wind shear alert.

Amid the carnage and other people who perished, nine others miraculously survived, Peter Onuka (Pictured above) was of them. Now, exactly ten years after the disaster, he has spoken for the first time about his experience. Taking to his Facebook page yesterday, October 29th, he posted photos from the crash scene, writing:

"Exactly10 years today, I was involved in a plane crash. The plane, a Boeing 737 operated by ADC Airline, was on a passenger flight from Lagos to Sokoto, via Abuja. After a short stop at Nnamdi Azikiwe airport, Abuja, the plane took off again, heading to Sokoto with 100 passengers and 5 crew members. But some seconds or a minute after take-off, the plane began to loose altitude, crashed and burst into flames.The pictures below show the remains of the plane. At least 96 people died in the crash, my heart goes to these people and their families however, out of this wreckage God brought me out alive without serious injuries. How God saved me in this crash I can't explain but I am grateful. Today, I raise an altar of praise to God. please do me a favour if you are reading this, as you take a few seconds to lift a voice of praise and thankgiving to God on my behalf. Thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ".

 Photos from the crash below...