Colombian military plane crash kills 66; four service members still missing

An Air Force transport crash in Colombia has left 66 dead as recovery teams continue to pull bodies from the wreckage, officials said.

The catastrophe ranks among the deadliest in recent memory for Colombia’s Air Force and left dozens more injured.

Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X that the Lockheed Martin-built Hercules C-130 was taking off from Puerto Leguizamo, near the Peruvian border, when the accident occurred.

A fire brigade spokesperson said the aircraft appeared to strike something near the end of the runway during its takeoff roll, and that a wing later clipped a tree as the plane descended.

People living in the isolated area were first on the scene and pulled survivors from the debris, with video footage showing men racing along a dirt track carrying wounded soldiers on the backs of motorcycles.

Military vehicles reached the site afterward, but authorities warned that difficult access hampered rescue operations.

Initial reports from Colombia’s Air Force put the number of people on board at 121 — 110 soldiers and 11 crew members.

Local authorities provided different figures, and officials have not immediately explained the discrepancy.

Modernising the military

President Gustavo Petro, days away from the end of his term, blamed bureaucratic hurdles for slowing his efforts to modernise the armed forces.

In a post on ⁠X he warned: “I will grant no further delays; it is the lives of our young people that are at stake.”

“If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to this challenge, they must be removed,” he added.

Several contenders in Colombia’s 31 May presidential election extended condolences and called for a full inquiry into the crash.

A Lockheed Martin spokesperson said the company is committed to assisting Colombia with the investigation.

The Hercules C-130 first entered service in the 1950s, and Colombia took delivery of its first examples in the late 1960s.

The country has in recent years upgraded some older C-130 airframes with newer models provided from the United States under a program that transfers used or surplus military equipment.

Hercules C-130s are routinely employed in Colombia to move troops for operations connected to the country’s six-decade internal conflict, which has caused more than 450,000 deaths.