Villavicencio – Mitú

On July 4, 1999 at 12:12 PM, Villavicencio – Mitú experienced a crash involving Douglas DC-6, operated by LANC Colombia - Lineas Aéreas Norte de Colombia, with the event recorded near Villavicencio Meta.

The flight was categorized as cargo and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

15 people were known to be on board, 4 fatalities were recorded, 11 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 26.7%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 12, passenger fatalities: 4, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The aircraft departed Villavicencio-La Vanguardia airport at 1206LT on a cargo flight to Mitú, carrying 12 passengers, three crew members and a load of various goods consisting of food and also 7 tons of fuel in 55 drums. After takeoff from runway 22, while climbing, the engine n°2 lost power. The captain decided to return for an emergency landing and was cleared to land on the same runway. On final approach, the airplane became unstable when the flight engineer shut down the engine n°2. The aircraft landed too far down the runway, about 1,700 feet past the runway threshold. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, it overran and came to rest against an embankment, bursting into flames. Four passengers were killed while 11 other occupants were injured. The aircraft was destroyed.

Aircraft reference details include registration HK-1776, MSN 45499/1011, year of manufacture 1958.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 4.1487°, -73.6214°.