Bolivia demands air official in Brazil must cooperate in Chapecoense plane crash investigation

Record ID: 163049

  • Title: Bolivia demands air official in Brazil must cooperate in Chapecoense plane crash investigation
  • Date: 5th January 2017
  • Summary: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (JANUARY 4, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF GOVERNMENT PALACE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BOLIVIAN MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS, MILTON CLAROS, SAYING: "This person had the authorisation of the flight under her responsibility, she did not fulfil her obligations, she must be brought to justice… The lawsuits have been established since the start, as the Ministry of Public Works, ASAANA itself, because it is clear that the protocol, the regulations are established, those which coincide with the report which the Ministry of Public Works emitted with the Colombian Ministry of Transport and Communications (DGAC), they have also seen failures in this remit and now it is up to the courts to determine the degree of responsibility. We are going to continue, we have opened a lawsuit as the Ministry, and we will continue in this process." GOVERNMENT PALACE
  • Embargoed: 20th January 2017 03:32
  • Keywords: Chapecoense Bolivia Colombia Brazil air navigation assistant Celia Castedo Monasterios
  • Location: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA; UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, BRAZIL; RIO NEGRO, COLOMBIA
  • City: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA; UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, BRAZIL; RIO NEGRO, COLOMBIA
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Air Accidents,Disaster/Accidents
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015XNZ4G7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Bolivian authorities demanded on Wednesday (January 4) that a Bolivian air navigation assistant charged with negligence in the case of the Chapecoense plane crash cooperate in investigations, after she gave an interview to Brazilian television defending her innocence due to the limits of her role.
    Celia Castedo Monasterios said she had reported five irregularities in the flight plan she received regarding the plane in question, but that only the Bolivian Civil Aviation Authority had the power to prevent the plane from taking off.
    The plane, run by Bolivian airline LaMia, went down in November after the aircraft apparently ran out of fuel and crashed into a mountainous area near the Medellin airport, where Chapecoense was to play in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final, killing 71 people.
    On December 3, Bolivian prosecutors charged Monasterios for not having reported the irregularities on time. Accused of negligence, she could face charges of culpable homicide or wrongful death.
    Bolivian Minister of Public Works Milton Claros said she must respond to the legal process.
    "This person had the authorisation of the flight under her responsibility, she did not fulfil her obligations, she must be brought to justice… The lawsuits have been established since the start, as the Ministry of Public Works, ASAANA itself, because it is clear that the protocol, the regulations are established, those which coincide with the report which the Ministry of Public Works emitted with the Colombian Ministry of Transport and Communications (DGAC), they have also seen failures in this remit and now it is up to the courts to determine the degree of responsibility. We are going to continue, we have opened a lawsuit as the Ministry, and we will continue in this process," said Claros, in La Paz.
    On Brazilian television channel SporTV, Monasterios said the most pressing issue she had noted was the level of fuel, which was sufficient only for the exact time trajectory planned, four hours 22 minutes, with none spare. She claimed only the airline is capable of modifying fuel levels as appropriate for a particular flight.
    After the accident, Monasterios´ report was published along with the flight plan, and she began to receive threats, leading her to seek refuge in Brazil. She gave the interview on the condition that her whereabouts were not revealed.
    In December, the Bolivian government stated the LaMia airplane and the pilot were directly responsible for the accident, whilst a law suits had also been filed against Marco Antonio Rocha Benegas, co-owner of LaMia whose whereabouts are unknown; Gustavo Vargas Gamboa, general manager; and Gustavo Vargas Villegas, former head of the National Aeronautical Registry of the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics.
    Chapecoense, the Brazilian football club devastated by the crash, will sign up to 20 players for the new season and are reserving shirt numbers for two of the survivors in the hope they can play again, their director of football said on Tuesday.
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