The pilot of a plane that crashed in Colombia killing all but six of the 77 people on board told air traffic controllers he had run out of fuel just moments before crashing, the Independent has reported.
An audio recording leaked to W Radio shows the pilot, Miguel Quiroga declared an emergency before saying 'there's no fuel', 'we have total electronic failure' and then screaming, 'help us' and 'we're going down'.
A female controller can be heard giving instructions as the plane loses speed and altitude about eight miles from Medellin Airport.
The recording matches an account given by the co-pilot of another plane in the area at the time the aircraft went down on Monday night, killing 71 people. Juan Sebastian Upegui, said he overheard the LaMia pilot telling the control tower in Medellin he was in trouble.
"Mayday mayday... help us get to the runway... help, help," Upegui described the pilot as saying. "Then it ended. We all started to cry."
Crew members who survived the disaster said in the moments before the aircraft crashed how the lights went out and passengers began to shout.
Bolivian flight technician Erwin Tumir he had survived because he strictly followed safety instructions.
"Many passengers got up from their seats and started yelling," he told Colombia's Radio Caracol. "I put the bag between my legs and went into the fetal position as recommended."
The tragedy happened on-board LaMia Airlines Flight 2933 and an investigation into the cause of the collision of the BAE 146 aircraft, made by BAE Systems, is now underway.
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