The plane which crashed in Colombia, wiping out a Brazilian football team, was late taking off because crew had to search for one of the players' lost video games, it was revealed today.

The delayed departure meant a planned refuelling stop in Cobija, on the border between Brazil and Bolivia, was abandoned because the airport did not operate after midnight.

The chartered flight carrying members of top flight club Chapecoense to the final of the Copa Sudamericana then had to wait for a landing slot at Medellin airport - and ran out of fuel before it was able to land.

Investigators say it is 'very suspicious' that the plane did not explode on impact as it smashed into a mountain on its way from Bolivia to the Colombian city of Medellin

A doomed jet carrying a Brazilian football team may have run out of fuel before crash landing in Colombia during dismal weather conditions, it has emerged

Colombian air force helicopter retrieves the bodies of victims from the wreckage of a plane that crashed in the jungle

Images emerged online showing players in the cockpit posing for pictures with pilot Miguel Quiroga, who was flying the doomed plane

The jet crashed into a mountain, killing 71 people. It had been flying for 20 minutes longer than its four-hour fuel capacity.

The BAE 146 Avro RJ85 jet's maximum range was 1,600 nautical miles. That is just under the distance between Medellin and Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where the plane took off at almost full capacity.

The Daily Telegraph reported that Bolivia today suspended airline LaMia's operating certificate.

But Gustavo Vargas, a LaMia director, told Bolivian journalists it was the pilot, Miguel Quiroga, who had decided to fly onto Medellin, without trying to refuel at Bogota.

'The pilot was the one who made the decision. He thought the fuel would last,' said Mr Vargas.

A Chapecoense fan reads messages at the Arena Conda stadium in Chapeco, which has become a makeshift memorial to the 71 people who died on the plane

Some of players who were not on the plane broke down in tears (pictured) as they gathered with family and fans to remember teammates wiped out in the crash

Chapecoense's board of directors stand in car park of a funeral home in Medellin where coffins containing the remains of the victims of the Colombian air tragedy have been placed

The plane crashed on Tuesday on its way to the Copa Sudamericana cup final against Atletico Nacional of Medellin. They joined Manchester United, Torino and the Zambian national team as football teams who have suffered air crash tragedies

The reason for the delay was revealed in a message by the club's director of football, Chinho Di Domenico, who also perished in the crash, posted in a Whatsapp group used by players, just before the plane took off, MailOnline can reveal.

Demerson Costa, a defender and one of seven players who did not travel with the team to Colombia, said the message was the last ever to be posted in the group.

Talking exclusively to MailOnline, he said: 'We all used the group to make jokes, take the mickey out of each other, send funny messages and photos, things that would make us laugh.

Demerson (pictured) was one of seven players who did not travel with the team to Colombia. In his case it was because he was recovering from injury

'Before the games we'd use it to send messages of support, wish everyone good luck. On the day the team left everyone was encouraging each other, and those of us who weren't going were telling the others to make us proud.

'The last message that was sent on the group was from Chinho, making fun of the fact one of the players was holding up the flight from Boliva because he had forgotten to take his video game out of his bags before it had been dispatched. He said the flight had been delayed as they tried to retrieve it.'

It is believed the bag was dispatched at Guarulhos airport in Sao Paulo, where the team took their first flight, and the unnamed player asked staff to find it when they changed planes in Santa Cruz in Bolivia.

Demerson, 30, who was not selected for the game in Medellin because he had suffered an injury two weeks earlier, said he later sent a Whatsapp message to his best friend on the team, striker Bruno Rangel.

The 34-year-old, an idol of the club with more goals than any other player in its history, did not survive the crash in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Demerson said: 'I wished him a good journey, and good luck, and that when he arrived for him to call me so I knew they'd arrived safely. I sent it at 8pm, when the team was already in the air.

'The message never arrived and still hasn't been delivered or seen. I waited up that night and kept looking to see if the message had arrived. I remember saying to my wife, "wow, they still haven't arrived, they must have got delayed", and eventually I went to bed.

Miguel Alejandro Quiroga Murakami pleaded on his radio as the jet carrying 77 passengers plummeted to its fate in the Colombian mountains killing 71 people on board

'I got woken up at 4am by my son crying. He's two years old, the same age as Bruno's daughter. I picked up my phone and there were hundreds of messages. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I got changed and went straight to the stadium.'

Demerson said he is living 'the most difficult time of my career and my life' - and said he does not know if he can play again for the team he joined in May this year, with a contract until the end of the year.

He said: 'I've never passed through anything like this, or even close. I lay down on my pillow at night and think, tomorrow I'll wake up and everything will be OK, but that's not what happens, the next day you wake up and the sadness is even greater.

'You know that the day is arriving when you'll have to say goodbye. I've spent a lot of time thinking about every player who died, and I have a memory of each one, how they came into the changing rooms, some playing around more, some more serious, some slamming the door.

In his horrifying final call, Mr Quiroga declared an emergency before saying 'there's no fuel', 'we have total electronic failure' and then screaming, 'help us' and 'we're going down'

'The penny hasn't dropped yet, and it will take a long time before it does. Everything we lived and experienced, during this marvellous year, it will never be back, ever again.

'I haven't got the head to play here again. How can we take to the field knowing that our compatriots were here next to us just days ago, treading on the same grass, playing in the same championship? It's really difficult.

'If we are made to play, then of course we'll have to do it to honour those who have gone, and do the best for them. But at this moment all we have to do is lament and be sad.'

Grieving Chapecoense players huddled together in front of tens of thousands of supporters at the team's stadium in Chapeco, southern Brazil on the night the club was supposed to be competing in the Copa Sudamericana final

The stands were a solid wall of green representing the team colours, but the pitch was empty in a poignant reminder that players were due to be lining up for the club's biggest ever fixture against Atletico Nacional

The plane was flying from Viru Viru airport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia and should have landed at Jose Maria Cordova in Colombia

Flight data shows how the jet circled around a number of times before the disaster after declaring an electrical failure

The defender Neto (circled) was among just six who survived. Pictured from back left - Danilo, Mateus Caramelo, Cleber Santana, Willian Thiego, Neto and Josimar. From front left - Kempes, Ananias, Tiaguinho, Gil, Dener

Bolivian flight attendant Ximena Suarez (pictured) miraculously survived the crash which killed more than 70 others

Goalkeeper Jackson Follmann (right), who survived the crash, has had to have his right leg amputated, it has emerged. Defender Alan Ruschel (left) was also pulled from the remains of the aircraft

United for the last time, this is the Brazilian football team posing together in front of a passenger jet before their doomed flight crashed in Colombia, killing 71 on board

Images show two footballers, Defender Alan Ruschel (right in the two pictures) and goalkeeper Danilo Padilha (next to Ruschel), posing for selfies during the journey from Brazil with Ruschel, 27, telling fans: 'We're coming Colombia'. Both Ruschel and Danilo were pulled alive from the wreckage but Danilo later died in hospital

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE DOOMED JET THAT CRASHED DOWN IN COLOMBIA Here's what we know - and don't know - about flight LMI 2933, which crashed into the Colombian mountains Monday night with a Brazilian football team on board, killing 71 people. Six people survived. What happened? The charter flight from the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz reported 'electrical failures' around 10pm on Monday (0300 GMT Tuesday). Soon after, the plane crashed just short of its destination, the Medellin international airport in northwestern Colombia. The plane broke apart on impact in the remote mountains of Cerro Gordo, leaving the shattered white fuselage plastered on a hillside. The plane's two black boxes have been found. Officials did not immediately say how long it would take to analyze their contents. A Colombian military source told AFP the plane did not explode on impact, raising suspicions it had run out of fuel when it crashed. The mountainous terrain is very difficult to access, a local official said. Rescuers had to hike for more than half an hour to reach the site. The charter flight from the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz reported 'electrical failures' around 10pm on Monday. Rescuers are pictured lifting bodies from the scene How many died? Colombia's disaster management agency said 71 people were killed. It lowered an initial death toll of 75 given by the civil aviation authority after it emerged that four people on the passenger manifest had not in fact boarded the plane. Six people survived: three players, two crew members and a journalist. The survivors are being treated in hospital. The regional governor, Luis Perez, said it was a 'miracle' they survived. Who were the victims? The plane was carrying club team Chapecoense Real to the first game of a two-leg final to decide the Copa Sudamericana, South America's second-biggest club tournament. Based in the city of Chapeco in southern Brazil, the unsung team was having a Cinderella season after defying the odds to reach the Copa Sudamericana finals. The team's goalkeeper Marcos Danilo Padilha, 31, died on the way to hospital after the crash, the civil aviation authority said. His last-minute save in the semi-final had sealed the team's spot in the final. There were 20 Brazilian journalists among the dead. They included six employees from the Brazilian affiliate of Fox Sports television. One of them, Mario Sergio, was a well-known announcer and former Brazilian international football player. What was the plane's history? The British Aerospace 146 airliner entered into operation in 1999, said a spokesman for the manufacturer. The four-engine jet had been used by two other airlines before being sold to Bolivian charter company LAMIA, which operated the flight. Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch said it was sending investigators to Colombia along with representatives of the plane's manufacturer BAE Systems to help with investigations. The same plane was used two weeks ago to fly the Argentine national football team - with superstar Lionel Messi on board - to San Juan, Argentina for a World Cup qualifying match, according to aviation specialist tracking sites. Advertisement

Brazilian footballer Danilo (pictured with his wife), who was pulled from the wreckage of the Colombian air disaster, later died in hospital

HOW CHAPECOENSE PLAYERS WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FAIRY TALE SEASON Why were Chapecoense heading to Colombia? Chapecoense were due to play in the final of the Copa Sudamericana on Wednesday, which is South America's secondary club competition - an equivalent to the Europa League in Europe. They were going to face Colombian side Atletico Nacional in the first match of the two-legged final. A video was uploaded by the club to social media showing the players heading on to the flight. Chapecoense edged Argentinian side San Lorenzo 1-1 on away goals in the semi-final to become the first Brazilian club to reach a major final in South America since 2013. After the victory, they were described as 'an unglamorous but growing club' by ESPN. When were Chapecoense formed? Chapecoense are a relatively young club, formed in 1973 in the city of Chapeco, in south Brazil. Their stadium, Arena Conda in Santa Catarina, holds 22,600. Chapecoense would have had to have played the second leg of the Copa Sudamericana final at an alternative venue because CONMEBOL, South America's equivalent to UEFA, state the final must be played at a venue holding at least 40,000 spectators. They are managed by Caio Junior, who has played and coached extensively across Brazil. The team joined Brazil's first division in 2014 for the first time since the 1970s and made it last week to the Copa Sudamericana finals - the equivalent of the UEFA Europa League tournament - after defeating Argentina's San Lorenzo How long have they been in Brazil's top division, Serie A? They have competed in the first division for three seasons, having made the top tier in 2014. As recently as 2009, they were in the fourth tier of Brazilian football and their run to a continental final this season was rightly heralded as a significant achievement. Who are their most notable players? Ananias, who is on loan at the club from Cruzeiro, netted the decisive away goal against San Lorenzo that got them to the final. Another loanee at the club is 21-year-old defensive midfielder Matheus Biteco, from German Bundesliga side Hoffenheim. Goalkeeper Marcelo Boeck spent five years at Sporting Lisbon from 2011-2016, where he was a team-mate of current Leicester striker Islam Slimani. Boeck reportedly got in trouble with Slimani after they won the Potruguese Super Cup in August 2015 and spraying him with champagne. As a Muslim, Slimani is not allowed to touch alcohol. Another of their well-known players was Cleber Santana, a midfielder whose best years were spent in Spain with Atletico Madrid and Mallorca. What is the reaction to the tragedy in South America? Chapecoense said on the club's Facebook page it 'reserves the right to wait for the official announcement of the Colombian air authority to issue any official statement about the accident. God be with our athletes, officials, journalists and other guests who are with the delegation.' Atletico Nacional said it 'deeply regrets and sympathizes with @chapecoensereal on the accident and expects information from authorities.' CONMEBOL has suspended all activities until further notice. Advertisement

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.

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.

A rescue worker in a helicopter hovers over the site of the plane crash in the municipality of La Union, Colombia

Shocked Chapecoense fans gathered together as they awaited news of the crash at the club's stadium in Brazil

A boy sits alone on the stands during a tribute to the players of Brazilian team Chapecoense Real who were killed in a plane accident in the Colombian mountains