Pilot recording reveals Chapecoense flight ran out of fuel before crash

The plane that crashed into the Colombian mountainside and killed 71 people, including 19 members of Brazilian football club Chapecoense, was running out of fuel, according to leaked audio recordings that revealed the pilot's desperate final remarks to air traffic controllers.

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"Miss, LAMIA 933 is in total failure, total electrical failure, without fuel," the Bolivian pilot, Miguel Quiroga, told the control tower at the Medellin airport, where the plane was en route, according to Reuters.

"Fuel emergency, Miss," he added, requesting permission to land the British-built jet.

Only six people survived the Monday evening wreck, including three players from the Brazilian side, which was travelling to Colombia ahead of the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final against Atletico Nacional.

The recordings, obtained Wednesday by multiple Colombian media outlets, combined with the fact that there was no explosion upon impact, seem to confirm initial suspicions that a fuel problem was behind the tragedy, as opposed to an electrical failure.

The reason for the problem, however, remains unclear. It's possible the pilot shed fuel intentionally to avoid an explosive crash upon the realization that the aircraft was descending toward the mountains, while a fueling error or leak have also not been ruled out.

A full investigation of the crash, which rocked the football world, is expected to take months.

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Alfredo Bocanegra, head of Colombia's aviation agency, addressed Wednesday the fact that the Avro RJ85 plane, which was travelling from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, had a maximum range of 2,965 kilometers.

That's slightly less than the distance of the trip the ill-fated aircraft was embarking on, to Medellin, with 77 people on board - nearly full capacity.

"If this is confirmed by the investigators it would be very painful because it stems from negligence," Bocanegra told Caracol Radio on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press.