COLOMBIAN AIRPLANE CRASH KILLS 71

October 2, 2017
Abram I. Bohrer

The aviation accident attorneys at Bohrer & Lukeman are closely following the crash of a chartered plane outside Medellin, Colombia on Monday, November 28th. The British Aerospace 146 was transporting a first division Brazilian soccer team when it crashed into a hillside, killing 75 of the 81 people onboard. Amazingly, there were six survivors. Sadly, one of the original survivors died at the hospital a short time later.

The cause of the crash is unknown and currently under investigation, according to civil aviation officials. The airplane crash lawyers at Bohrer & Lukeman are monitoring the events surrounding this short-haul airliner accident.

The BAe 146 aircraft, also known as the Avro RJ85, was en route from Santa Cruz, Bolivia to Medelin, Colombia at the time of the accident. The airplane was carrying the Chapecoense soccer team to a semifinal match against the Colombian club team Atletico Nacional as part of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana tournament.

Soccer fans in particular were shocked by the news, as the small-town Brazilian team had risen to prominence in recent years to become the unexpected frontrunners of the international athletic contest.

“It’s a Cinderella football story. They’ve only been in the top division in Brazil for the last couple of years,” said Keir Radnedge of World Soccer magazine on Tuesday. “The dream was over this morning.”

According to aviation authorities, six passengers survived the crash, including three players, two crewmembers and a journalist. Rescue workers pulled the survivors from the wreckage late Monday night. The other victims, including 7 crewmembers and 20 members of the media, were found dead on arrival.

Satellite images show that intermittent thunderstorms had moved across the area in the 12 hours previous to the crash. According to CNN meteorologist Michael Guy, turbulence caused by these storms likely affected the chartered airliner.

Investigators discovered the aircraft’s black boxes Tuesday afternoon, according to Colombia’s civil aviation authority. The two boxes, one that monitors and records all of the aircraft’s data, and the other, a cockpit voice recorder, will be taken to lab where technicians will attempt to download and review their contents. Once the data is in hand, the investigators will have a better picture as what caused this terrible tragedy.

The airplane crash attorneys at the Bohrer & Lukeman law firm will continue to monitor all developments associated with the investigation. Attorney Abe Bohrer is familiar with the Avro, and has been involved with this type of aircraft in previous litigations. “It is a high wing design with four engines, two on each wing. It was built from 1983-2002 and was typically used in short haul and regional markets. It is was prevalent in Europe and the center of many regional carrier’s fleets” Stated Bohrer. He went on to comment.. “Look, there are a lot of these aircraft out there and still flying, so these authorities need to quickly determine the likely cause of this crash to see if this tragedy was caused by the maintenance or piloting of this individual aircraft, or due to a design flaw which would require a careful look at the entire fleet of these airplanes by their respective carriers and operators.”

Bohrer & Lukeman is a New York-based aviation accident law firm with over 25 years of experience focused on commercial and general aviation and aircraft accidents. The aviation law firm’s founder, Abe Bohrer, has successfully represented clients both domestically and internationally that were injured in aviation accidents.

The aircraft crash law firm is knowledgeable in airplane, airline, and aviation accidents and will update its website www.flightinjury.com with any developments from the Colombian airplane crash.