100,000 Brazilians Turn Out To Pay Respects To Chapocoense Football Team Players And Staff Who Died In Plane Crash

December 5. 2016

VIDEO: "The last celebration of the Brazilian Chapecoense team before Plane Crash Accident"

This tragedy broke my heart. I have been meaning to write this article for days, but have been at a loss for words. An airplane flying from Brazil to Bolivia then on to Colombia, carrying 19 Chapocoense football players, 22 members of their staff and 21 journalists, including 4 from Fox News, crashed into the mountains of Colombia on November 28, 2016. 71 people died and 6 survived. Among the survivors are two football players.

The plane was four minutes from their airport destination in Colombia, when the aircraft fell out of the sky and crashed. An investigation is being conducted to determine the cause of the tragic crash, but preliminary reports suggest the aircraft ran out of fuel and plummeted into the mountains. The pilot radioed in the emergency citing a complete electrical failure.

A flight attendant who survived the crash stated passengers stood up and began shouting when the lights went out in the plane. The flight attendant stated he assumed the brace position, strapped into his seat, he curled up like a ball, with his carry-on luggage between his legs. It is believed he and another flight attendant survived the crash for this reason.

100,000 Brazilians in Chapeco, Brazil came out to mourn the dead as bodies from the crash were repatriated and their Brazilian flag draped coffins lay in the team’s official stadium, Arena Conda. Mourners cried as the caskets were brought out onto the pitch. It was a sad homecoming.

2016 was Chapecoense’s breakthrough year, as they made it to the Copa Sudamericana Finals and were scheduled to play against Colombia’s Atletico Nacional, before tragedy struck. Atletico Nacional has requested the title be awarded to Chapecoense and the prize money. Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo has also donated 3,000,000 Euros to the Chapecoense. Many football teams around the world have offered to loan Chapecoense football players so they can continue. May the deceased rest in peace.