Colombian Military Plane Crash Kills at Least 66, Injures Dozens in Southern Amazon Region
C-130 Hercules carrying 128 troops and crew went down shortly after takeoff from Puerto Leguizamo; President Petro calls for military modernization
BOGOTA — March 24, 2026 — At least 66 people were killed when a Colombian military transport plane crashed shortly after takeoff in the southern Amazon region on Monday, officials said, in one of the deadliest aviation accidents in the country’s recent history.
The C-130 Hercules aircraft, operated by the Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC), went down near Puerto Leguizamo in Putumayo province, a remote jungle region bordering Ecuador and Peru, shortly after departure. The plane was carrying 115 soldiers, 11 crew members and two national police officers — a total of 128 people on board, according to Colombian military officials.
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Colombian President Gustavo Petro described the incident as a “horrific accident” in a post on X, sharing footage showing the aircraft attempting to gain altitude before plummeting to the ground seconds after takeoff.
Casualty Toll Rises as Rescue Operations Continue
The death toll has climbed steadily as rescue workers access the wreckage. According to Colombian military figures, 66 people have been confirmed dead: 58 soldiers, six aerospace force personnel and two police officers. An additional 57 people were injured, and four remained missing as of Tuesday morning, authorities said.
Earlier reports from local officials had placed the death toll at 34, but updated figures from the military confirmed a significantly higher number of fatalities. The Putumayo governor’s office said 83 people were initially injured, with 14 in critical condition.
The crash occurred approximately 1.5 kilometers (about one mile) from the airport, according to Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez. Ammunition being carried on board detonated as a result of the fire that followed the crash, complicating rescue efforts and scattering debris across the jungle floor.
Wreckage and Rescue Challenges
AFP images from the scene showed civilians and military personnel clambering around the broken tail of the aircraft, marked FAC 1016, as smoke and flames billowed above the trees. The plane’s wreckage was strewn across a jungle area near the small airport in Puerto Leguizamo.
“The airport is small and there are several difficulties” hindering the evacuation of bodies and the injured, Putumayo Governor Jhon Gabriel Molina said in a Facebook video. Local residents rushed to the crash site to assist survivors, with some videos showing injured soldiers being transported from the scene on motorcycles driven by local civilians.
At least 48 people were initially rescued alive from the wreckage. The Colombian military dispatched two aircraft with 74 beds to the area to transport the injured to hospitals in Bogota and other cities for treatment.
Investigation Underway
Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his “deep sorrow” over the disaster, saying it was too early to determine the cause of the crash. There was no indication of an “attack by illegal actors,” and the plane was reportedly airworthy with a qualified crew ahead of departure.
The Colombian Aerospace Force has sent an investigative team to the crash site to determine the causes of the incident. Lockheed Martin, the U.S. defense company that manufactured the C-130 Hercules, said in a statement that it extended condolences to those affected and was committed to assisting Colombia as it investigates the incident.
Military Modernization Call
President Petro used the tragedy to renew his call for modernizing Colombia’s military hardware, suggesting that bureaucratic obstacles had delayed necessary upgrades.
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“I will grant no further delays; it is the lives of our young people that are at stake,” Petro wrote on X. “If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to this challenge, they must be removed”.
Petro did not specifically link the crash to the aircraft’s condition, but emphasized the need to address what he described as longstanding bureaucratic barriers to equipment modernization.
Strategic Border Region Context
The crash occurred in a region that has seen heavy military activity in recent weeks, as Colombian and Ecuadoran forces conduct operations against drug-trafficking cartels and armed groups operating along the border. Puerto Leguizamo, located deep in the Amazon rainforest, serves as a strategic military outpost near the frontier with Peru and Ecuador.
Second C-130 Crash in South America in a Month
Monday’s accident marks the second C-130 Hercules crash in South America in less than a month. On February 27, a Bolivian military cargo plane carrying banknotes crashed while landing near La Paz, killing at least 24 people.
The C-130 Hercules, a four-engine turboprop transport aircraft built by Lockheed Martin, was first launched in the 1950s and remains widely used by militaries around the world for its ability to operate from makeshift airstrips. Colombia acquired its first models in the late 1960s and has more recently modernized some older C-130s with newer models transferred from the United States.
The tail number of the crashed plane matches that of one of three U.S. Air Force aircraft delivered to Colombia in late 2020.
Several candidates in Colombia’s upcoming May 31 presidential election offered condolences and called for a thorough investigation into the crash
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