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LA PAZ, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera blamed Friday some officials from the country's aviation authority for abusing their power in granting license to LaMia Airlines, the owner of the aircraft crashed late last month in Colombia, killing 71 aboard.
"We are facing executives who used their position to carry out personal business. This is a crime. These events can never happen again," said Garcia Linera, adding that granting an operating license to LaMia had been "negligent, outside the norms, and an arbitrary use of the state's decision-making ability, which must be punished."
The certification for the doomed plane, which crashed on Nov. 28 with 77 aboard, was provided by Gustavo Steven Vargas Villegas, head of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC)'s national aviation registry. His father, Gustavo Vargas Gamboa, is one of LaMia's partners and also the company's general manager.
The father and son were arrested as part of the investigation against LaMia following Monday's tragic crash.
Five Bolivian nationals, 19 players from the Brazilian football team Chapecoense, as well as many coaches, journalists, guests and part of the crew were killed in the crash. Only six survived in the accident.
Prosecutor Daniel Ayala said Vargas Villegas had been charged with influence peddling, dereliction of duty and carrying out business incompatible with public service.
Meanwhile, Vargas Gamboa was jailed on Thursday on charges of "culpable homicide" and "grievous bodily harm" in the air disaster.
Celia Castedo, an airport administration official for the Bolivian government, who raised the alarm about irregularities on the LaMia flight, fled to Brazil earlier to demand asylum.
In a public statement there, she said she was pressured to modify the report about the crashed airplane and expressed willingness to testify about the case to the Brazilian authorities.
However, Castedo has denied any responsibility for the fatal crash, stating that she was not authorized to give the greenlight to the departure of the flight to Colombia.
Marco Antonio Rocha, another partner in LaMia, left Bolivia on Nov. 21 for Asuncion, Paraguay, and there has been no record of his return, said Bolivia' s migration office.
