Bolivian government find pilot and airline "directly responsible" for Chapecoense plane crash tragedy

Blame for the crash that killed 71 people including most of Brazil's Chapecoense football team has been placed directly on the pilot and Bolivian airline at the controls. An investigation by the Bolivian government found the pilot, Miguel Quiroga, who died in the wreckage, along with his employers, were directly responsible for the tragedy. LaMia Flight 2933 is believed to have run out of fuel before crashing on a wooded hillside near the Colombian city of Medellin. Quiroga was also a co-owner of the charter company. The aircraft had been taking Chapecoense to the biggest game in its history, the final of the Copa Sudamericana.
"LaMia and the pilot are directly responsible for what happened with this tragic event," said Public Works Minister Milton Claros, who oversees Bolivia's aviation authority.
Gustavo Vargas Gamboa, LaMia's chief executive, was jailed pending trial earlier this month on manslaughter and other charges. He has denied the charges. His son Gustavo Vargas Villegas, a former official with Bolivia's aviation authority, is also being held until trial on charges that he misused his influence in authorizing the license of the plane that crashed. He also says he is innocent. Criminal charges were also brought against LaMia co-owner Marco Antonio Rocha Benegas, whose whereabouts are unknown, and air traffic controller Celia Castedo, who fled Bolivia after the crash and is seeking asylum in Brazil.
At the press conference, Claros said the crash was an "isolated" incident and did not mean it was unsafe to fly in Bolivia. Still he said the government would accelerate the process of implementing a new aeronautical safety system.