One of the few survivors of the plane crash which killed most of the Chapecoense football team has revealed he reluctantly swapped seats at the last minute.

Alan Ruschel, 27, was one of just six survivors on the flight in which 71 people were killed after the plane crashed into a mountain near Medellin, Colombia on 28 November.

The full-back was sitting near the back of the plane when he was asked by club director Cadu Gaucho to move seats to allow a group of journalists to sit together.

“I didn't want to [move seats] but then I saw (Jackson) Follman and he insisted that I sit beside him,” Mr Ruschel told reporters at his first news conference since the crash.

“Only God can explain why I survived the accident. He grabbed me and gave me a second chance.”

Mr Ruschel suffered a back injury in the crash but expressed his hopes of playing football again. Mr Folman also survived but had part of his leg amputated.

Medellin Plane Crash Show all 17 1 /17 Medellin Plane Crash Medellin Plane Crash Logo of Brazilian football team Chapecoense at the site of the plane crash in a mountainous area outside the Colombian city of Medellin. Plane carrying Brazilian football team Chapecoense crashes in Colombia Rex Medellin Plane Crash Rescue workers carry the body of a survivor of a plane that crashed in La Union, a mountainous area outside Medellin, Colombia AP Medellin Plane Crash Rescue workers carry the body of a man from a plane that crashed outside Medellin, Colombia. The plane was carrying the Brazilian first division soccer club Chapecoense team that was on it's way for a Copa Sudamericana final match against Colombia's Atletico Nacional AP Medellin Plane Crash Medical staff waiting for survivors of the crashed plane carrying the Brazilian football team Chapecoense, at San Juan de Dios La Ceja Hospital, in La Ceja municipality, near Medellin Rex Medellin Plane Crash Medical staff from the San Juan de Dios hospital transfer 27-year-old Brazilian soccer player Alan Ruschel as he arrives to La Ceja in Colombia Rex Medellin Plane Crash 81 people, including the players of the Brazilian soccer club Chapecoense, crashed in a mountainous area outside Medellin as it was approaching the Jose Maria Cordoba airport EPA Medellin Plane Crash Medical staff from the San Juan de Dios hospital transfer Brazilian journalist Rafael Henze as he arrives at La Ceja in Colombia after surviving a plane crash EPA Medellin Plane Crash razil's Chapecoense player Helio Neto is helped by paramedics at the San Juan de Dios clinic in La Ceja. Traveling on the doomed airliner that crashed in Colombia overnight were the players and staff of a Brazilian football club about to complete a fairytale journey from unknowns to would-be South American champions Getty Medellin Plane Crash Rescue workers search at the wreckage site of a chartered airplane that crashed outside Medellin, Colombia AP Medellin Plane Crash A charter plane carrying the Chapocoense Real football team crashed in the mountains in Colombia late Monday, killing as many as 75 people, officials said Getty Medellin Plane Crash Rescuers gesture near the wreckage of the LAMIA airlines charter plane carrying members of the Chapecoense Real football team that crashed in the mountains of Cerro Gordo, municipality of La Union Getty Medellin Plane Crash Supporters of the Chapcoense FC gathering at the club in Chapeco, Brazil EPA Medellin Plane Crash Supporters of the Chapcoense FC gathering at the club in Chapeco, Brazil EPA Medellin Plane Crash People pay tribute to the players of Brazilian team Chapecoense Real who were killed in a plane accident in the Colombian mountains, at the club's Arena Conda stadium in Chapeco Getty Medellin Plane Crash Fans pay tribute to members of the Chapecoense team in front of the club headquarters, in the city of Chapeco Getty Medellin Plane Crash People pay tribute to the players of Brazilian team Chapecoense Real who were killed in a plane accident in the Colombian mountains, at the club's Arena Conda stadium in Chapeco Getty Medellin Plane Crash People pay tribute to the players of Brazilian team Chapecoense Real who were killed in a plane accident in the Colombian mountains, at the club's Arena Conda stadium in Chapeco, in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina Getty

“I don't remember anything about the accident,” Mr Ruschel continued. “When they told me what happened it seemed like a dream, a nightmare. Little by little they've been telling me what happened and I'm starting to understand.”

He said he avoids the news and tries not to speak about the event.

However, Mr Ruschel said he wanted to visit the families of the other players who died in the crash and to treat his Colombian doctors to a barbeque to thank them.

Brazilian plane crash survivor starts walking again

“As a lesson, this tragedy teaches that you have to keep living,” Mr Ruschel continued. “Take advantage of some things and do good for others.