(AP) The pilot of a chartered plane with 77 people aboard told air traffic controllers he had run out of fuel moments before crashing into the Andes.
A recording from the air traffic tower leaked to W Radio shows the pilot of the British-built jet repeatedly requesting permission to land due to a “total electric failure” and lack of fuel.
A female controller can be heard giving instructions as the aircraft loses speed and altitude about 8 miles from the Medellin airport. Just before going silent the pilot says he’s flying at an altitude at 9,000 feet.
W Radio didn’t say how it obtained the recordings. But they would seem to confirm the account of a pilot on a nearby commercial flight.
Monday’s crash killed all but six of the people aboard, including most members of the Chapecoense soccer team from Brazil.
