Riohacha – Santa Marta – Barranquilla – Bogotá

On July 16, 1978 at 04:55 PM, Riohacha – Santa Marta – Barranquilla – Bogotá experienced a crash involving Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3), operated by Colombian Air Force - Fuerza Aérea Colombiana, with the event recorded near Mt Kennedy Magdalena.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

8 people were known to be on board, 8 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 6, crew fatalities: 6, passengers on board: 2, passenger fatalities: 2, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The C-47 departed Riohacha Airport at 1615LT on a flight to Bogotá with intermediate stops in Santa Marta and Barranquilla. About five minutes before ETA, while cruising in low clouds, the airplane struck the slope of Mt Kennedy located about 22 km east of Santa Marta-Simon Bolivár Airport. The wreckage was found in an isolated area three days later and all eight occupants were killed. Crew: Cpt Jaime Sánchez Tocarruncho, pilot, Lt Ramon Villanueva Rodriguez, copilot, Cpt Jose Orlando Moscoso Valencia, navigator, Cpt Edra Rincón TAvera, navigator, Ezequiel Prada Rueda, mechanic, Omar Hernán Linares Rifaldo, mechanic. Passengers: 1st Lt Guillermo Leon Valencia Obando, Sgt Ramiro Waldo Giraldo Ramirez.

Aircraft reference details include registration FAC-680.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 10.8934°, -74.0731°.