Crash Survivor May Play Again

Helio Hermito Zampier Neto

A Brazilian football player who survived a plane crash in Colombia on Monday is recovering and may be able to resume his career, his father says.

Helio Hermito Zampier Neto, a 31-year-old defender for Chapecoense, was in a stable condition, doctors said, after surgery on a lung, a knee, a wrist and his head.

Five other people survived the crash, which killed 71 people.

Colombian officials say evidence is growing that the plane ran out of fuel.

Miguel Quiroga, the pilot of the British-made Avro RJ85 aircraft, had been warned by an official at Santa Cruz airport, in Bolivia, where the plane took off from, that he might not have enough fuel, Bolivian Deber newspaper said.

But, despite the official’s concerns, he went ahead with the flight to Medellin. The country’s authorities have not yet commented.

In a leaked tape, the pilot can be heard warning of a “total electric failure” and “lack of fuel”.

The flight missed a planned refuelling stop in Cobija, on the border between Brazil and Bolivia, because the airport did not operate at night, Brazil’s O Globo newspaper reported.

The pilot had the option to refuel in Bogota, it said, but headed straight to Medellin.

Bolivia’s aviation authority suspended the operating licence of charter airline LaMia, which was partly-owned by the pilot and two other aviation officials.

Tags: