Lionel Messi plane crash: Barcelona ace ‘just 18 MINUTES from death’ on Colombia crash plane as reports suggest aircraft almost ran out of fuel
Argentine national team flew on same plane that crashed into a mountainside carrying Chapecoense players and journalists
LIONEL MESSI was just 18 mins from death on the same plane involved in the Chapecoense tragedy, according to reports.
The Barcelona star travelling with the Argentine national squad two weeks before the fatal accident.
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The trip from Brazil to Argentine capital Buenos Aires following the team's World Cup qualifier against Brazil was airborne for four hours and four minutes.
And the aircraft reportedly could only travel for four hours and 22 minutes fully fuelled.
Argentine authorities insist on a 45-minute difference between flight length and fuel capacity.
Last week the same plane crashed after a refuelling stop on the border between Brazil and Bolivia was abandoned because the airport did not operate after midnight.
The chartered flight travelling to the Copa Sudamericana final had to wait for a landing slot at Medellin airport in Colombia's capital and ran out of fuel before it was able to land.
Initial reports suggested it had been flying for 20 minutes longer than its maximum capacity.
Chapecoense have refused to be granted immunity from relegation next season.
The Brazilian club is still coming to terms with the tragic loss of 19 first-team players in last week's plane crash.
71 people died when their aircraft crashed in Colombia on the way to the Copa Sudamericana final, which they were awarded in a show of solidarity.
However, they have no intention of being allowed to remain in the country’s top league if they finished in one of the final four positions.