Post #10 stated:
BBC World Service reporting that the aircraft had declared a fuel emergency.
Starting with Post #13, however, the discussion switched to assuming they'd reported only an electrical failure, not a fuel problem, because the airport statement mentioned only an electrical failure.
The discussion continued on that assumption for pages (though recognizing the RJ85 likely was very low on fuel, wondering if that caused the electrical failure reported -- and speculating why they didn't report being low on fuel.)
Recently, post # 107 (
http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/5...ml#post9593813) said the Avianca pilot heard the LAMIA RJ85 tell ATC it had a "fuel problem" and requested immediate tracking (but did not declare a fuel emergency).
As it happens, I had just been reviewing early reports from 360 Radio Columbia's twitter feed.
Early on, that twitter feed was saying the plane reported being low on fuel minutes before it disappeared from radar.
Perhaps the radio station --or its source-- confused (or conflated) transmissions by the LAMIA RJ85 and the Viva Columbia A320, but it may offer some corroboration of the Avianca pilot's report that at some point the LAMIA RJ85 eventually did tell ATC it was low on fuel:
(Google translation into english, sorted by older tweets at the top):
360 Radio Colombia @ 360RadioCo · 23 hours ago
#Sports | Plane crashed carrying Chapecoense in La Unión
360 Radio Colombia @ 360RadioCo · 23 hours ago
# Attention | Apparently plane reported little fuel load minutes before disappearing from Rionegro airport radars.
360 Radio Colombia @ 360RadioCo · 23 hours ago
# Attention | First reports indicate that plane disappeared more than an hour ago, emergency units already make presence in place.
José María Córdova @AeropuertoMDE · 23h23 hours ago Rionegro, Colombia
Confirmed, the aircraft with registration CP2933 * transported the team @ChapecoenseReal. Apparently there are survivors.
88 replies 3,295 retweets 1,689 likes
360 Radio Colombia @ 360RadioCo · 23 hours ago
# Attention | Chapecoense's plane reported an emergency for low fuel, was given priority at the airport but failed to arrive.