text: Rescue workers stand at the wreckage site of a chartered airplane that crashed in a mountainous area outside Medellin, Colombia, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016. The plane was carrying the Brazilian first division... (Associated Press) 
   
   LA UNION, Colombia (AP) — Colombia's worst air crash in two decades snuffed out a storybook run by a Brazilian soccer team, and authorities are digging in trying to figure out why a chartered jetliner crashed in the Andes, killing all but six of the 77 people aboard. 
   
   The country's aviation agency said Tuesday that the British Aerospace 146's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder had been found among the wreckage strewn over a mountainside and were already being studied by experts. 
   
   Initially, Colombian officials said the short-haul jet suffered an electrical failure, but there was also heavy rain when the crew declared an emergency and the plane disappeared from radar just before 10 p.m. Monday. 
   
   Authorities also said they were not ruling out the possibility the aircraft ran out of fuel minutes before it was to land at Jose Maria Cordova airport outside Medellin, a report given to rescuers by a surviving flight attendant. Officials said they hoped to interview her Wednesday. 
   
   Emotional pain resonated across the region over the loss of much of the Chapecoense soccer team from southern Brazil, which just two years after working its way into Brazil's top league for the first time in decades had fought its way into the championship of one of South America's most prestigious tournaments. 
   
   The aircraft, which departed from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, was carrying the team to Wednesday's first game in the two-game Copa Sudamericana final against Atletico Nacional of Medellin. Twenty-one Brazilian journalists were traveling with the team. 
   
   South America's soccer federation canceled all scheduled matches in a show of solidarity, while the Real Madrid and Barcelona clubs interrupted their training sessions for a minute of silence. Brazil's top teams offered to lend players to the small club for next season as it rebuilds, saying: "It is the minimum gesture of solidarity that is within our reach." 
   
   In a moving gesture, Atletico Nacional asked that the championship title be given to Chapecoense, whose upstart run in the tournament electrified soccer-crazed Brazil. 
   
   Three players were among the survivors. Alan Ruschel was reported in the most serious condition, facing surgery for a spinal fracture. Teammates Helio Zampier and Jakson Follmann also suffered multiple trauma injuries, and doctors had to amputate Follmann's right leg. 
   
   A journalist also underwent surgery and two Bolivian crew members were in stable condition, hospital officials said. 
   
   The aircraft is owned by LaMia, a charter company that started in Venezuela but later relocated to Bolivia, where it was certified to operate last January. Despite apparently limited experience, the airline has a close relationship with several premier South American soccer squads. 
   
   Earlier this month, the plane involved in the crash transported Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Argentina's national team from Brazil following a World Cup qualifying match. The airliner also appeared to have transported the national squads of Brazil, Bolivia and Venezuela in the last three months, according to a log of recent activity provided by Flightradar24.com. 
   
   Before being taken offline, LaMia's website said it operated three 146 Avro short-haul jets made by British Aerospace, with a maximum range of around 2,965 kilometers (1,600 nautical miles) — about the distance between Santa Cruz and Medellin. 
   
   Hans Weber, a longtime adviser to U.S. aviation authorities, said the aircraft's range deserves careful investigation. He noted that air distance between cities is usually measured by the shortest route but planes rarely fly in a straight line, with pilots steering around turbulence or changing course for other reasons. 
   
   Given the model of the plane and the fact that it was flying close to capacity, "I would be concerned that the pilots may have been cutting it too close," Weber said. 
   
   A spokesman for Bolivia's civil aviation agency, Cesar Torrico, said the plane was inspected before departing for Colombia and no problems were reported. 
   
   Gustavo Vargas, a retired Bolivian air force general who is president of the airline, said: "We can't rule out anything. The investigation is ongoing and we're going to await the results." 
   
   Moments before the plane took off, the team's coaching staff gave an interview to a Bolivian television station in which they praised the airline, saying it brought them good fortune when it flew them to Colombia last month for the championship's quarterfinals, which they won. 
   
   "Now we're going to do this new trip and we hope they bring us good luck like they did the first time," athletic director Mauro Stumpf told Gigavision TV. 
   
   The team, from the small Brazilian city of Chapeco, was having a breakout season. It advanced to the Copa Sudamericana finals after defeating some of the region's top teams, including Argentina's San Lorenzo and Independiente. 
   
   The Chapecoense club is so modest that tournament organizers ruled its 22,000-seat stadium was too small to host the concluding match of the two-game final and moved it to a stadium 300 miles (480 kilometers) to the city of Curitiba. Some fans in soccer-mad Brazil were so enchanted with its magical run that they started a campaign online to move the final match to Rio de Janeiro's iconic Maracana stadium, where the 2014 World Cup final was played. 
   
   "This morning I said goodbye to them and they told me they were going after the dream, turning that dream into reality," Chapecoense board member Plinio De Nes told Brazil's TV Globo. "The dream was over early this morning." 
   
   ___ 
   
   Associated Press writer Fernando Vergara reported this story in La Union, Colombia, and AP writer Joshua Goodman reported from Bogota. ||||| CORRECTS TO REMOVE DEATH TOLL OF 75 AFTER NUMBER OF DEATH TOLL WAS LOWERED BY COLOMBIAN OFFICIALS - Fans of Brazil's soccer team Chapecoense gather outside the Arena Conda stadium in Chapeco, Brazil,... (Associated Press) 
   
   CHAPECO, Brazil (AP) — Thousands squeezed into Chapeco's cathedral and even more packed a stadium to mourn the death of 71 people in a plane crash, 19 of them members of the Chapecoense club who had been on the brink of soccer greatness. 
   
   "To lose (almost) all of them in such a tragic way, totally destroyed our city and each one of us," Carla Vilembrini said late Tuesday, standing outside Santo Antonio Cathedral. She was dressed like so many others — in the club's green and white jerseys. 
   
   Chapecoense's fantasy season ended on a muddy Colombian mountainside late Monday when a chartered aircraft crashed south of Medellin. Only six of the 77 passengers and crew survived, three of them players. 
   
   The club was having the best season in its 43-year history, heading to the first of two matches in the final of the Copa Sudamericana, the continent's No. 2 club tournament. 
   
   Distraught residents of this southern Brazilian city of 200,000 people, an agribusiness center near the Argentina border, wandered the streets around the stadium — known as Arena Conda — in stunned silence. 
   
   "The city is very quiet," businessman Cecilio Hans said. "People will only believe once the bodies start to arrive." 
   
   On social media, haunting last photos showed the smiling players boarding the flight to Colombia for their match with Atletico Nacional. 
   
   In one photo, the team celebrated a last-minute save by goalkeeper Danilo only a week ago against the Argentine club San Lorenzo. The save guaranteed Chapecoense a spot in the final — and ultimately cost Danilo his life in the crash. 
   
   "I can't still believe it," Alan Heinz said inside the stadium, his body pressed against the fence that separates fans from the field. This time the field was filled by a religious service and prayers for the dead. 
   
   "I was preparing for the best day of my life, and now I don't know what my life will be after this," he said. 
   
   As recently as 2009, the club known as Chape was playing in Brazil's fourth division, but it won promotion to the top league in 2014 for the first time since the 1970s. 
   
   Victories over San Lorenzo and Independente — two of Argentina's fiercest squads — as well as the Colombian club Junior took the team to the Copa Sudamericana finals, the equivalent of the UEFA Europa League tournament. 
   
   Few of the players had an international profile, and none had any appearances with Brazil's glitzy national team. Most had played all over Brazil and Latin America. Only a few had ever reached Europe, like Cleber Santana, who played for Atletico Madrid in 2007-10. 
   
   Chape strikers Bruno Rangel and Kempes, both 34, were among the top scorers in the Brazilian league, with 10 and nine goals, respectively. 
   
   The only players to survive were goalkeeper Jakson Follmann, defender Helio Zampier, commonly known as Neto, and defender-midfielder Alan Ruschel. 
   
   Coach Caio Junior is credited with Chape's quick rise, joining the club this year after guiding teams in the Middle East. Born Luiz Carlos Saroli, he coached numerous Brazilian teams, including Palmeiras, Flamengo and Botafogo. 
   
   He was among the dead. His son, Matheus Saroli, escaped because he didn't make the flight, saying in a Facebook post that he couldn't board "because I forgot my passport." 
   
   An Argentine player on the club, Alejandro Martinuccio, also missed the flight, because of an injury during a game, he told Argentina's La Red radio. 
   
   "I feel deep sadness. The only thing I can ask is prayers for the companions who were on the flight," he said. 
   
   Also among the dead were 20 sports journalists, including Mario Sergio Pontes de Paiva, a former player who worked as a commentator for Fox Sports. He played briefly for Brazil's national team in the early 1980s and had a long career as a midfielder and coach with many Brazilian clubs. He last coached Brazilian club Internacional in 2009 and Ceara in 2010. 
   
   "This is a very, very sad day for football," FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement. "At this difficult time our thoughts are with the victims, their families and friends." 
   
   Brazilian President Michel Temer declared three days of official mourning, while soccer great Pele called it a "tragic loss." Brazilian champion Palmeiras asked the country's football confederation for permission to wear Chapecoense's jersey in its last match of the season. 
   
   Around the world, the sport paused to remember the victims. 
   
   Barcelona and Real Madrid held a minute of silence before their practice sessions during the day, and France's top two leagues observed be a minute's silence at Tuesday night's games. 
   
   Medellin-based Atletico Nacional said it was asking the South American soccer confederation to give the Copa Sudamericana title to Chape as a tribute to the players who died. 
   
   Some of Brazil's top clubs said they wanted to lend players to Chape for the 2017 season. They also said the team should not be relegated to the second division as it recovers from the disaster. 
   
   "The dream is not over. We will fight back when it's time," said Chape's acting club president, Gelson Della Costa. 
   
   "Now it's time to take care of the families," he said. 
   
   ___ 
   
   Associated Press sports writer Mauricio Savarese reported this story in Chapeco, Brazil, and AP sports writer Stephen Wade reported from Rio de Janeiro. ||||| The trip to Medellin, Colombia, was supposed to be a joyous one for the members Chapecoense, a soccer club from the small city of Chapeco, Brazil, and they were in the middle of a fairy tale season. 
   
   Now their journey will go down in history as a tragedy. 
   
   Investigators will likely comb through the evidence for the next several months, hoping to discover why a charter flight crashed Monday night while carrying players, coaches, board members and journalists. The accident killed 71 people, officials said, revising the death toll from the initial figure of 75. Officials said six survived. 
   
   Details are scarce, and it will take a significant amount of time for officials to determine the exact causes of the crash. However, information available soon after the crash point toward the pilots facing the worst of circumstances. 
   
   The charter flight departed Bolivia on Monday just before 6:20 p.m. local time. A little over four hours later, the flight began what appears to be a holding pattern just south of the Medellin airport for about 13 minutes. According to flight data from FlightRadar24, the plane made three circles, descending from 21,000 feet to 15,550 feet for the last two minutes of available flight data. 
   
   The flight's destination, Maria Cordova International Airport outside Medellin, is a notoriously difficult airport for pilots. The runway is at 7,000 feet, surrounded by mountainous terrain. Frequent adverse weather conditions can make visibility difficult. 
   
   Approaching an airport at that elevation requires high approach speeds, creating an even greater challenge in poor conditions. 
   
   Fotos de @AerocivilCol aeronave procedente Aeropuerto Viru Viru de Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia empresa Lamia matrícula CP2933 RJ 80. pic.twitter.com/ZKngqObQ5v — AERONÁUTICA CIVIL (@AerocivilCol) November 29, 2016 
   
   There were scattered thunderstorms in the area at the time of the crash, and turbulence could have been present, according to ABC News meteorologist Melissa Griffin. 
   
   The airport's official Twitter account confirmed the plane suffered an electrical failure before the crash. 
   
   While the consequences of an electrical failure can vary greatly, if the pilots lost navigational aids on approach to an airport like Medellin at night in poor visibility, that could spell serious trouble. 
   
   The limited evidence available at this time suggests some possible scenarios for the doomed flight. For insight into the incident, ABC News spoke with Col. Steve Ganyard — a former deputy assistant secretary of state, a retired fighter pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps and an ABC News contributor. 
   
   The holding pattern seen on flight data could indicate the crew was attempting to troubleshoot the electrical failure. So late in the flight, however, the plane may have been low on fuel, forcing the crew to make a quick decision in poor weather surrounded by high terrain. Such a combination could have been perilous. 
   
   "An electrical failure under those conditions would challenge even the best pilots," Ganyard said. "And if there was a total electrical failure, the flight was doomed." 
   
   #AEstaHora Carlos Iván Márquez Pérez, Director de la UNGRD, realiza seguimiento a operación de búsqueda y rescate en la zona del siniestro. pic.twitter.com/SsfOEBZDQt — UNGRD (@UNGRD) November 29, 2016 
   
   Under those conditions, a visual approach would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible. In such a case, a pilot would resort to the often used ILS, or instrument landing system. 
   
   ILS allows the pilots to use radio signals to navigate the plane safely to the runway, even through poor visibility. 
   
   A total electrical outage, although rare, would take this option away from the pilots. 
   
   Investigators will surely look very closely at the reported electrical outage and why such an event may have occurred. 
   
   Ganyard added that air safety in South America is relatively poor. "A Bolivian charter aircraft was not likely maintained or manned to U.S. standards," he said. 
   
   As the recovery mission is ongoing, fans and surviving team staff are remembering those who died. 
   
   In an early morning tweet on Tuesday, the team shared a video of the players celebrating a recent victory with a simple caption: “May this be the last image of our warriors. #ChapeStrength.” 
   
   Que essa seja a última imagem dos nosso guerreiros.#ForçaChape pic.twitter.com/Q1ZxF5h4sV — Chapecoense (@ChapecoenseReal) November 29, 2016 
   
   ABC News contributor Col. Steve Ganyard contributed to this report. ABC News' Paul Blake also contributed.
target: – Colombia's worst air crash in two decades snuffed out a storybook run by a Brazilian soccer team, and authorities are digging in trying to figure out why a chartered jetliner crashed in the Andes, killing all but six of the 77 people now reported to have been aboard; 20 journalists were among the dead. The latest: The AP reports the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder are already being examined in an attempt to get at the cause of the crash, which was originally attributed to an electrical failure. But a flight attendant who survived reported the plane ran out of fuel just before it was to land at Jose Maria Cordova airport outside Medellin. The British Aerospace 146 Avro short-haul jet had a maximum range of around 1,600 nautical miles—about the distance between Santa Cruz, where the plane departed from, and Medellin. An aviation expert tells the AP that air distance between cities is usually measured by the shortest route but planes rarely fly in a straight line, with pilots steering around turbulence, for example. There was also heavy rain when the crew declared an emergency Monday night. ABC News reports it may have been a "nightmare scenario": Flight data indicates the plane circled three times just outside Medellin. The airport it was headed to is an infamously challenging one, located in a mountainous region at 7,000 feet, an elevation that necessitates a high-speed approach. Three players from the Chapecoense team survived the crash but sustained serious injuries, reports Reuters: Goalkeeper Jackson Follmann has had his right leg amputated; defender Helio Neto suffered severe trauma to the skull, thorax, and lungs; and Alan Ruschel underwent spine surgery. A heart-wrenching final statement, per the AP: Moments before the plane took off, the team's coaching staff gave an interview to a Bolivian television station in which they praised the airline, saying it brought them good fortune when it flew them to Colombia last month for the championship's quarterfinals, which they won. "Now we're going to do this new trip and we hope they bring us good luck like they did the first time," athletic director Mauro Stumpf told Gigavision TV.