Colombia military plane crash: At least 66 dead after C-130 Hercules goes down in Amazon jungle
Bogota: A Colombian military transport plane carrying 125 soldiers and crew members crashed during takeoff early Monday, killing at least 66 people and leaving dozens of others injured, according to government officials.
The C-130 Hercules aircraft went down shortly after departing from Caucayá Airport in Puerto Leguizamo, a remote municipality near the southern borders of Ecuador and Peru. The crash scattered burning wreckage across the dense jungle floor, triggering a massive rescue operation in the Amazonian province of Putumayo.
A military source told AFP that the dead included 58 soldiers, six air force personnel, and two police officers. The updated figure followed an earlier statement from local government secretary Carlos Claros, who told RCN television that 33 fatalities had been confirmed while teams worked to "treat and evacuate dozens of others injured."
Investigation and Regional Context
Authorities have launched a formal inquiry into the disaster. The border region where the aircraft went down has seen "heavy military activity in recent weeks," as Colombian and Ecuadorian forces coordinate efforts to dismantle drug-trafficking cartels and local militias.
Images from the site showed civilians and soldiers clambering around the severed tail of the aircraft, which bore the registration FAC 1016, as plumes of black smoke billowed above the canopy. Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed "deep sorrow" over the event but noted it was "too early to determine the cause of the crash."
"It is a deeply painful event for the country. May our prayers bring some measure of comfort," Sanchez said.
Logistical Challenges
General Carlos Fernando Silva Rueda confirmed that 114 troops and 11 crew members were travelling from Puerto Leguizamo to a nearby Amazonian outpost. Putumayo Governor Jhon Gabriel Molina noted in a Facebook video that the "airport is small and there are several difficulties" hampering the recovery of bodies and the medical evacuation of survivors.
Local witnesses described a catastrophic failure seconds after the plane left the runway. "I felt an explosion in the air and, when I looked up, the plane was flying close to the house on my plot," said Noe Mota, a local farmer.
Modernization Debate
President Gustavo Petro shared social media footage appearing to show the four-engine turboprop struggling to gain altitude before "plummeting down." He characterised the incident as a "horrific accident" and used the tragedy to call for a modernisation of the nation’s ageing military hardware.
"If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to the challenge, they must be removed," Petro wrote on X, though he stopped short of directly blaming the plane's mechanical condition for the crash.
The disaster marks the second fatal C-130 Hercules accident in South America in less than a month. On Feb. 27, a Bolivian military cargo plane carrying banknotes crashed near La Paz, killing at least 24 people. The Lockheed Martin-built aircraft is a staple for global militaries due to its reputation for operating from "makeshift airstrips."
With inputs from AFP