Weather Hampers Recovery Efforts in Plane Crash That Killed Dozens, Including Members of Brazilian Soccer Team

Eric Chaney
Published: November 29,2016
Heavy rainfall and low visibility have hampered the efforts of rescue crews working the fatal crash of a charter plane carrying a Brazilian first division soccer near Medellin, Colombia.
The plane, which was carrying members of the Chapecoense soccer team, crashed in mountainous terrain just before 10 p.m. Monday, killing 71 people on board, the Associated Press reported.
Six people were eventually rescued alive, but rescuers were forced to put operations on hold Monday night as weather conditions grounded helicopters said six people survived.
“There were a few clusters of thunderstorms near Medellín Monday night, according to infrared satellite imagery,” said weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Erdman.
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The Brazilian team was on its way to the finals of a South American championship when the plane declared an emergency and disappeared from radar, likely because of an electrical failure, aviation authorities told the AP.
"What was supposed to be a celebration has turned into a tragedy," Medellin Mayor Federico Gutierrez told the AP from the search and rescue command center.
The plane declared an emergency between the municipalities of La Ceja and La Union, Colombian aviation officials told CNN. The crash occurred in an area called Cerro El Gordo near Medellin, officials said.
Showers and thunderstorms are in the forecast for both today and tomorrow for that area, said weather.com meteorologist Christopher Dolce.
Rescue efforts were still underway Tuesday morning, USA Today reports, and authorities are asking residents to stay away from the crash site.
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Expressions of grief poured in from all over the soccer world for the underdog team, which was in the middle of a fairy tale season, the AP reports.
It joined Brazil's first division in 2014 for the first time since the 1970s, the AP reports, and made it last week to the Copa Sudamericana finals after defeating two of Argentina's fiercest squads.
"This morning I said goodbye to them and they told me they were going after the dream, turning that dream into reality," Chapecoense board member told TV Globo, as reported by the AP. "The dream was over early this morning."
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