The Air Power Hercules 1016 sits on the tarmac of Catam air base in Bogota on March 20, 2026. A Colombian navy aircraft carrying 125 troops and crew crashed on take off on March 23, 2026, with as many as 80 folks aboard feared useless. The Hercules plane went down shortly after departure from Puerto Leguizamo, close to the southern border with Ecuador, strewing burning wreckage on the jungle flooring.
| Photograph Credit score: AFP
A navy transport aircraft with 125 folks on board crashed shortly after taking off Monday (March 23, 2026) in southwestern Colombia, inflicting an undetermined variety of casualties, officers within the South American nation mentioned. No less than 48 folks have been rescued alive.
Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez mentioned on X that the aircraft was carrying troops when the “tragic accident” occurred in Puerto Leguizamo, a distant municipality within the Amazonian province of Putumayo, which borders Peru and Ecuador.
Pictures shared on-line by Colombian media shops confirmed a black cloud of smoke rising from a subject the place the aircraft crashed, and a truck with troopers dashing to the location.
Carlos Fernando Silva, the commander of Colombia’s Air Power, later issued a video saying that 125 folks have been on board the Hercules C-130 aircraft, together with 114 passengers and 11 crew members. Mr. Silva mentioned that no less than 48 folks have been rescued alive as rescue efforts continued on the crash website.
Media shops shared movies of troopers being rushed from the location on bikes pushed by native residents.
“At this second we have no idea particulars” of the crash Silva mentioned. “Besides that the aircraft had an issue and went down about two kilometers from the airport.” The air drive commander added that two planes, with 74 beds, had been despatched to the realm to fly the injured again to hospitals in Bogota and elsewhere.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote on X that he hoped there could be “no lethal casualties on this accident that ought to haven’t occurred.” Petro seized on the accident to advertise what he known as his long-time marketing campaign to modernize planes and different tools utilized by his nation’s navy, saying these efforts have been blocked by “bureaucratic difficulties” and suggesting that some officers ought to be held accountable. “If civilian or navy administrative officers are lower than the problem, they should be eliminated,” Petro mentioned.
Mr. Sánchez wrote that the accident was “profoundly painful for the nation,” including that: “We hope that our prayers can assist to alleviate among the ache.”
Printed – March 24, 2026 01:28 am IST