Apiay - Apiay

On July 23, 1999 at 03:30 AM, Apiay - Apiay experienced a crash involving De Havilland DHC-7 (Dash-7), operated by United States Army, with the event recorded near Mt Patascoy de Santa Lucía Nariño.

The flight was categorized as survey / patrol / reconnaissance and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

7 people were known to be on board, 7 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 7, crew fatalities: 7, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The crew (five US citizens and two Colombians) departed Apiay AFB near Villavicencio at 0230LT on an anti-narcotic control flight over the southern part of Colombia and along the border with Ecuador. About an hour into the flight, while cruising at an altitude of 7,000 feet in limited visibility, the four engine aircraft struck the slope of Mt Patascoy de Santa Lucía (3,923 meters high) located about 35 km southeast of San Juan de Pasto. The wreckage was found five days later at an altitude of 2,100 metres. The aircraft was destroyed and all seven occupants were killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration N5382W, MSN 95, year of manufacture 1982.