Colombian military plane crash kills at least 66, wounds dozens

Tuesday March 24, 2026

Flames and thick black smoke rise from the Colombian air force’s C-130 Hercules that crashed during takeoff, in Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia, on March 23, 2026 [AFP]

A deadly aviation disaster unfolded in Colombia’s far south on Monday when a military transport plane carrying 125 people crashed moments after takeoff, killing at least 66 and leaving dozens more injured, authorities said.

The aircraft, a Lockheed Martin-built C-130 Hercules, went down shortly after departing Puerto Leguizamo, a jungle town near Colombia’s border with Ecuador and Peru. Burning debris scattered across the forest floor as the wreckage caught fire.

Minister of Defence Pedro Sanchez said the plane struck the ground just 1.5km (0.9 miles) from the runway shortly after it took ⁠off, triggering a detonation of ammunition on board and engulfing the aircraft in flames.

Sanchez said there was no sign the crash resulted from an “attack by illegal actors”.

General Hugo Alejandro Lopez Barreto, who heads the Colombian armed forces, said four military personnel were still unaccounted for.

“Sadly, as a consequence of this tragic accident, 66 of our military elements died,” Barreto said.

He also said officials had “no information or indications” pointing to an attack by an illegal armed group.

In video shared on social media, Deputy Mayor Carlos Claros said bodies were taken to the morgue in the small town, while the injured were initially treated at Puerto Leguizamo’s only two clinics before being transferred by air to larger cities.

The higher death toll was confirmed shortly after Claros told RCN television that 33 people had died, as responders worked to treat and evacuate dozens of others hurt in the crash.

Carlos Fernando Silva, the commander of Colombia’s air force, said earlier that two aircraft equipped with 74 beds had been dispatched to move the injured to hospitals in the capital, Bogota, and other locations.

Colombia first brought the C-130 Hercules into service in the late 1960s, and in more recent years has modernised parts of its fleet, including older C-130s updated with newer models provided from the United States.

The crash comes weeks after another C-130, operated by the Bolivian air force, went down in the city of El Alto, narrowly missing a residential building.

That incident killed more than 20 people and injured 30.