Colombia plane crash | Leaked audio shows pilot said he ran out of fuel

The pilot of the chartered plane carrying a Brazilian soccer team told air traffic controllers he had run out of fuel and desperately pleaded for permission to land before crashing into the Andes, international media reported, citing a leaked recording of the flight’s final minutes.

In the sometimes chaotic exchange with the air traffic tower, the pilot of could be heard repeatedly requesting authorisation to land because of “fuel problems”, the Guardian reported. A controller had reportedly explained another plane had been diverted with mechanical problems and had priority, instructing the pilot to wait seven minutes.

As the plane circled in a holding pattern, the pilot grew more desperate. “Complete electrical failure, without fuel,” he said in the tense final moments before the plane spiralled downwards for four minutes, slamming into a mountainside Monday night.

Just before going silent the pilot said he was flying at an altitude of 9,000 feet and made a final plea to land: “Vectors, señorita. Landing vectors.”

The recording, obtained on Wednesday by Colombian media, appeared to confirm the accounts of a surviving flight attendant and a pilot flying nearby who overheard the frantic exchange.

Civil aviation chief Alfredo Bocanegra said an initial inspection at the site indicated the plane "did not have fuel at the moment of impact".

"Upon arriving at the scene of the accident, and having been able to do an inspection of all of the remains and parts of the plane, we can affirm, clearly, that the aircraft did not have fuel at the moment of impact," Mr Bocanegra told a news conference.

"Therefore, we have begun a process to investigate to clear up for what reason this aircraft had no fuel at the time of impact."

The plane had failed to explode on impact, which also points to fuel running out as a cause of the crash of the jetliner, which experts said was flying at its maximum range, according to the Guardian.

The crash killed all but six of the 77 people on board, including 19 members of Brazil’s Chapecoense football team travelling to Medellin for the Copa Sudamericana finals. Twenty journalists were also killed.

Of the survivors, Chapecoense said that two players remained in a critical but stable condition, while the club's goalkeeper had had one leg amputated and might still lose his other foot.

An injured journalist also remained in critical condition, the club said.

A full investigation is expected to take months.