Home and Away | The world of sport could do without the curse of Lady Luck as Chapecoense tragedy triggers reflection of other disasters

The aftermath of a fatal tragedy sees shock and grief followed by anger. Then blame, and then an investigation – the findings of which, we hope, achieve three things: truth, justice and prevention of something similar ever happening again.

The plane crash in Colombia that wiped out almost all of the Chapecoense football team defies words. The numbing, confusing sentiment is felt not just by their supporters in their small, tight-knit and hitherto largely unknown community in southern Brazil, but also by the global football fan base.

Six people on board survived: three of the players, two flight crew and a journalist. Rescue workers picking through the debris said it was a miracle anyone had escaped alive.

As the probe deepened, we learnt the pilot was shouting at air traffic controllers for help as his plane ran out of fuel, because of, it is alleged, his mismanagement of refuelling en route to the club’s historic cup tie. But he was unable to land because another aircraft was conducting an emergency landing at the same time.

The latter part of the sequence of events has been put down to “bad luck”.

Fate, the fickle, undiscriminating leveller, has once more devastated a football community just as it did to Torino, Manchester and Zambia when their respective football teams were wiped out in plane crashes in the last century.