Chapecoense was South America’s fairytale, until it became South America’s nightmare.
The team from the small city of Chapecó, Brazil had gone from the lowly fourth division of Brazilian soccer in 2009, to boarding a flight for Medellín, Colombia on Nov. 29. There they were set to compete for the Copa Sudamericana, a title which spans all of South America. They never made it to Medellín, though.
The plane crashed into the Andes Mountains, with all initial signs pointing to an infuriatingly avoidable circumstance of loss of fuel. All told, 77 people boarded the plane for Medellín, including players, coaches, journalists and crew members.