Police in Brazil have arrested the Bolivian air traffic controller who approved the flight plan of the aircraft involved in LaMia Flight 2933, which killed almost the entire Chapecoense football squad.

The 28th November 2016 flight, which crashed near the Colombian town of La Union, killed 71 of the 77 people on board.

The arrest took place last Friday, 23rd September on the orders of Justice of the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Gilmar Mendes dating to 26th August.

Mendes also ordered that Celia Castedo Monasterio, who was responsible for analysing and approving the flight plan for the Avro RJ85 aircraft involved in the crash, be extradited to Bolivia.

The crash killed nearly all of the Brazilian top-flight club’s players, management team and media contingent, who were travelling to the 2016 Copa Sudamericana final in the city of Medellin.

Notable victims included goalkeeper and fan favourite Marcos Danilo Padilha, 31, whose last-minute save in the semi-final secured his side’s place at the final.

And midfielder Cleber Santana Loureiro, 35, who had played for some of Brazil’s biggest teams, including Santos, Sao Paulo and Flamengo, and also for Spain’s Atletico Madrid.

The youngest victims were defensive midfielder Matheus Bitencourt da Silva and right back Guilherme Gimenez de Souza, who were both just 21 years old.

Castedo is believed to have fraudulently failed to observe minimum procedures for approving the aircraft’s flight plan.

She signed off on the flight plan, even though the plane was not carrying enough fuel to face any unforeseen event.

She had been living in the Brazilian city of Corumba and was considered a fugitive from justice in her native Bolivia.

At the time of reporting, the police said that Celia would remain in preventive custody in Corumba to await legal proceedings before being handed over to the Bolivian authorities.