BOGOTÁ, Colombia — A Colombian military C-130 Hercules carrying troops and other security personnel crashed seconds after takeoff from Puerto Leguízamo in Putumayo, killing at least 66 people and leaving four missing, authorities said Monday. Officials opened an investigation and kept rescue teams at the remote site as the toll climbed through the day, March 23.
The Colombian Aerospace Force said in an initial official communiqué that the aircraft, tail number FAC 1016, took off at 9:54 a.m. on the Puerto Leguízamo–Puerto Asís route while transporting troops and cargo before falling to the ground seconds later. The service said rescue aircraft, doctors and investigators were deployed immediately, and it first reported 77 injured.
Military plane crash in Colombia: what authorities say so far
By Monday night, the casualty picture had shifted sharply. Reuters reported that the death toll had reached 66, with four people still missing and dozens of survivors taken to hospitals after a difficult rescue operation in Colombia’s far south. The cause of the crash remained under investigation.
AP reported that officials were counting 128 people aboard, mostly soldiers, and quoted Colombia’s armed forces chief as saying there was no indication the aircraft had been brought down by an illegal armed group. The gap between the first official bulletin and later reports reflects how quickly the numbers moved as rescuers reached the site and authorities updated their accounting.
In a later follow-up communiqué, the Colombian Aerospace Force identified six of its own dead crew members, including the pilot, co-pilot and flight specialists, underscoring that the losses included both troops and air force personnel.
Why the crash is drawing fresh scrutiny
The disaster is also drawing attention because Colombia’s C-130 fleet had already been part of a visible modernization story. A September 2021 U.S. Southern Command report described the handover of two donated C-130H aircraft to Colombia’s Military Air Transport Command, and a July 2023 FAC maintenance report said FAC 1016 had returned to service after major programmed depot maintenance. Those older records are likely to keep attention on maintenance history and the wider condition of Colombia’s transport fleet, not just the final moments of the flight.
President Gustavo Petro used the crash to renew calls to modernize military aircraft, while investigators worked to determine why the Hercules went down almost immediately after departure. Officials said the toll could still change as search crews continued working through the wreckage.
