The plane that crashed in Colombia killing 71 people including Brazilian footballers had skipped a scheduled refuelling stop, media has quoted a representative of the Bolivian airline as saying.
The plane should have refuelled in Bogota but instead bypassed the Colombian capital and headed straight for its destination Medellin, Gustavo Vargas, a representative of airline LAMIA, was quoted as saying in Bolivian newspaper Pagina Siete.
"The pilot was the one who took the decision not to enter (into Bogota for refuelling), because he thought the fuel would last."
Only six people, three players, a journalist and two crew members, survived the crash when Chapecoense's charter plane, a BAe 146 made by BAE Systems Plc, hit a mountain en route to the Copa Sudamericana final in Medellin.
They are being treated at local hospitals. Of the players, goalkeeper Jackson Follmann is recovering from the amputation of his right leg, doctors said.
Another player, defender Helio Neto, remains in intensive care with severe trauma to his skull, thorax and lungs. Fellow defender Alan Ruschel has had spine surgery.
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One of the survivors, Bolivian flight technician Erwin Tumiri, said he survived because he strictly followed safety instructions.
"Many passengers got up from their seats and started yelling. I put the bag between my legs and went into the foetal position as recommended," he told Colombia's Radio Caracol.
Bolivian cabin crew member Ximena Suarez, another survivor, said the lights went out less than a minute before the plane slammed into the mountain, according to Colombian officials in Medellin.
Doctors said that Suarez and Tumiri were shaken and bruised but not in critical condition, while journalist Rafael Valmorbida was in intensive care for multiple rib fractures that partly collapsed a lung.
On Monday night, the aviation authority said the plane reported electrical problems just before the crash.
But a Colombian military source told AFP: "It is very suspicious that despite the impact there was no explosion. That reinforces the theory of the lack of fuel."
Brazilian media said the plane's fuel capacity may have been inferior to the amount required for the distance of its journey from Santa Cruz in Bolivia to Medellin.
Colombian media, citing investigators, said the plane may have had to wait for another flight to touch down in Medellin before it could land.
Colombian broadcaster W Radio aired a recording of what it said was the captain of another aircraft who said he had heard the pilot of the doomed plane over the radio reporting fuel problems followed by an electrical failure.
British, Bolivian and Brazilian investigators headed to Colombia to help with the probe, authorities said.
Investigators returned to the wreckage this morning as soldiers guarded the hillside crash site overnight.
Bolivia, where the charter company LAMIA was based, and the United Kingdom also sent experts to help the probe. LAMIA operated the plane that crashed.
By nightfall yesterday, rescuers had recovered most of the bodies which were to be repatriated to Brazil and Bolivia, the countries from where the nine-person crew came.
Brazil has declared three days of mourning.
Almost all of the 67 bodies recovered from the crash have been identified, according to a member of the Chapecoense board. He said medical experts from Brazil were expected to conclude their work by Wednesday night.
The club is planning an open wake at its stadium by Saturday, the city's planning secretary Nemesio da Silva told journalists.
Chapecoense's opponents, Atletico Nacional of Medellin, asked that the tournament cup be awarded to the Brazilians in honour of the dead.
