--- description: Investigators are examining the final hours of a plane crash that killed members of a Brazilian soccer team in Colombia. title: Brazilian Soccer Team Plane Was 'Doomed,' Expert Says image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd4cb3366e122ade/6988b00d196cf458d003e211/gettyimages-626384338.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Colombia](/tag/colombia/) ## Colombia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Brazilian Soccer Team Plane Was 'Doomed', Expert Says by [Dominique Rowe](/author/dominique-rowe/) ## Dominique Rowe Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 30, 2016 6:08 AM CUT  Rescuers search for survivors from the wreckage of the LAMIA plane carrying members of the Chapecoense Real soccer team that crashed in the mountains of Cerro Gordo, municipality of La Union, on Nov.29, 2016. Rescuers search for survivors from the wreckage of the LAMIA plane carrying members of the Chapecoense Real soccer team that crashed in the mountains of Cerro Gordo, municipality of La Union, on Nov.29, 2016.Raul Arboleda—AFP/Getty Images by [Dominique Rowe](/author/dominique-rowe/) ## Dominique Rowe Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 30, 2016 6:08 AM CUT It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, a fairytale bringing Brazil’s [celebrated underdogs](http://time.com/4584499/chapecoense-brazilian-soccer-team-colombia-plane-crash-football/ "undefined") to the top of the South American soccer league. Instead, a chartered flight to Medellin, Colombia carrying most of the Chapecoense football team and its [entourage of journalists](http://time.com/4585700/brazilian-soccer-team-chapecoense-crash-journalists/ "undefined") and coaches[ ended in tragedy](http://time.com/4585706/brazilian-soccer-team-chapeco-chapecoense-chape-mourning/?xid=homepage/ "undefined") late Monday. Little is currently known about the crash that killed 71 of the 77 people on board, and investigators could take months to discover what exactly went wrong. But [initial investigations](http://abcnews.go.com/International/early-evidence-points-nightmare-scenario-brazilian-soccer-teams/story?id=43852713 "undefined") are finding that adverse conditions were such that it may have made it extremely difficult for the pilot to land safely, reports _ABC News_. Medellin’s airport, Maria Cordova International, is notoriously challenging for pilots. It sits at an altitude of 7,000 feet, nestled in the mountains that surround Medellin. High approach speeds are necessary to land at altitude. Poor weather conditions would have made the landing more difficult as visibility could have been compromised. According to ABC’s meteorologist Melissa Griffin, there were thunderstorms scattered in the area when the plane crashed, and turbulence could have been a problem. Early reports state that the aircraft suffered an electrical failure before the crash. In low visibility conditions, an Instrument Landing System (I.L.S.) is used in which radio signals locate the ground and potential obstacles. Flight data of the plane’s holding pattern — the flight path of an aircraft as it’s waiting to land — suggests the crew could have been attempting to fix the problem. “An electrical failure under those conditions would challenge even the best pilots,” [said ](http://abcnews.go.com/International/early-evidence-points-nightmare-scenario-brazilian-soccer-teams/story?id=43852713 "undefined")Col. Steve Ganyard, a retired fighter pilot and ABC News contributor. “And if there was a total electrical failure, the flight was doomed.” Investigators are also examining whether the plane ran out of fuel before it could land, CNN [reports](http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/29/americas/colombia-plane-crash-investigation/index.html "undefined"), citing the lack of apparent fire damage in the wreckage of the four-engine Avro RJ85\. Fuel starvation can be caused by a leak in the fuel tanks, fuel pumps and gauges failure, internal icing or human error. But it’s very rare on commercial airliners “because there are so many checks and balances to make sure you have enough fuel on board,” air safety investigator Grant Brophy told CNN. According to CNN, investigators will comb through the flight data from the plane’s black boxes, which were reportedly recovered in a good condition on Tuesday, Colombian aviation officials said, and build up a picture of the flight’s final hours. \[[_ABC_](http://abcnews.go.com/International/early-evidence-points-nightmare-scenario-brazilian-soccer-teams/story?id=43852713 "undefined")_,_ [_CNN_](http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/29/americas/colombia-plane-crash-investigation/index.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4585699/brazilian-soccer-team-colombia-plane-crash/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4585699/brazilian-soccer-team-colombia-plane-crash/"},"headline":"Brazilian Soccer Team Plane Was 'Doomed', Expert Says","datePublished":"2016-11-30T06:08:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:02:53.231Z","description":"Early reports state the aircraft suffered an electrical failure but investigators aren't ruling out the possibility that the plane ran out of fuel","url":"https://time.com/4585699/brazilian-soccer-team-colombia-plane-crash/","keywords":["Colombia","brazil"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd4cb3366e122ade/6988b00d196cf458d003e211/gettyimages-626384338.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dominique Rowe","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dominique-rowe/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd4cb3366e122ade/6988b00d196cf458d003e211/gettyimages-626384338.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TOPSHOT-FBL-COLOMBIA-BRAZIL-ACCIDENT-PLANE","caption":"TOPSHOT-FBL-COLOMBIA-BRAZIL-ACCIDENT-PLANE","creditText":"Raul Arboleda—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/colombia/","name":"Colombia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4585699/brazilian-soccer-team-colombia-plane-crash/","name":"Brazilian Soccer Team Plane Was 'Doomed', Expert Says"}}]}] ```