PRESCOTT, Ariz. - Air safety officials continue to try and figure out what went wrong leading up to the deadly crash of LAMIA Flight 2933 in Colombia.
Plane wreckage is still scattered across hills in Colombia. Among the twisted metal, is the last place several members of a Brazilian soccer team will ever be together. They would never make it to one of the biggest games of their careers.
There are many questions begging answers, like what went wrong during those final moments?
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Ronald Carr, an associate professor at Embry-Riddle, weighs in.
“Most times when something like this happens, the first thing that kind of pops into my mind is, is it a mechanical problem or is it a pilot problem," Carr said.
While it will likely take some time to sift through the wreckage for answers, Carr says the biggest lead right now is the fact that there was no sign of fire when the plane hit the ground.
"You can pretty well figure or have a good bet that the fuel tanks are pretty empty as far as the fuel is concerned," Carr said. "So therefore, it will not catch fire."
Carr adds that while the exact cause is not known yet, sometimes smaller airlines will make shortcuts to save money.
"People will press it to try and lengthen it out to get to a destination without stopping to refuel," he said. "If you have some head winds, that will shorten the range of the aircraft and you may not make it."
So far, six people miraculously survived the nightmare. Carr says survival all depends on how the plane makes impact and where passengers are when tragedy strikes.
"You could be in the nose of the airplane and you could survive, whereas the rest of the airplane might not be survivable," Carr said. "You could be in the tail of the airplane and the airplane could break off at that point, you could survive that situation, whereas the rest of the aircraft could not be survivable. If you're coming in vertically, there's not much chance for any survival."
As investigators sift through evidence.The country remains in mourning, preparing for many funerals.