Chapecoense footballer has leg amputated and two others undergo spine and skull surgery as UK experts fly out to probe Colombia plane crash that killed 71
ONE of the miracle survivors of the Colombia plane crash has had his leg amputated while crash investigators struggle to work out what caused the disaster that killed 71 people.
Chapecoense goalie Jackson Follman is recovering in hospital after undergoing the drastic treatment.
He is one of only three footballers from the top tier Brazilian team on board Flight LMI2933 to have survived.
Fellow goalkeeper Danilo was rescued from the rubble in the Cerro Gordo mountains but later died on his way to hospital.
Alan Ruschel, a defender on loan to Chapecoense from Internacional, He has undergone spinal surgery in hospital.
A snapchat video showing him with teammate and pal Danilo was posted online just before the crash.
A third team survivor, defender Helio Neto, is in intensive care receiving treatment for severe head and lung injuries.
to work out exactly what brought down the British-made BA146 plane.
Investigators from Colombia's civil aviation authority will be joined by UK counterparts to scour the wreckage for clues.
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Seventy-one people were killed in what was the deadliest air disaster in the world this year.
They have already found the plane's two black box recorders, which are currently being analysed.
It has been claimed the plane may have run out of fuel as it approached Medellin international airport.
Electrical faults that were reported from the plane in its final moments may have emerged because the plane's engines were starved of fuel.
Photos from the crash site have helped back up this theory.
They appear to the show the engines' rotor blades are intact and undamaged, suggesting they were switched off and not turning when the plane hit the ground.
It has also been reported that pilot Miguel ‘Micky’ Quiroga may have dumped fuel out of the plane’s tanks moments before it crashed to earth to prevent it going up in a deadly fireball.
The 'hero' airman also asked if the Brazilian football side, who were travelling over the border for a historic cup final, could be flown directly to the town of Medellin instead of having to stop over in Bolivia.
But aviation authorities refused permission for a flight to take the direct route from Sao Paulo in Brazil to Medellin in Colombia.
It meant they were forced to fly to Bolivia to board the doomed plane.
There were 68 passengers and nine crew were on board flight LMI2933.
The Chapecoense squad, who had been described by coach Caio Júnior as "Brazil's Leicester", were on their way to the first leg of the final of the Copa Sudamericana in Colombia — a game tipped as the biggest in the club's history.
They were travelling with a delegation of 21 journalists covering the match.
Six people survived; the three Chapecoense players, journalist Rafael Valmorbida, flight attendant Ximena Suarez and flight technician Erwin Tumiri.
Earlier reports put the tragic death toll at 76, but this has been lowered since a Colombian officials revealed four passengers did not make the flight.
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