Villavicencio – Mitú

On July 9, 2000 at 08:25 AM, Villavicencio – Mitú experienced a crash involving Curtiss C-46 Commando, operated by Rolando Medina Marmolejo, with the event recorded near Villavicencio Meta.

The flight was categorized as charter/taxi (non scheduled revenue flight) and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

19 people were known to be on board, 10 fatalities were recorded, 9 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 52.6%.

Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 17, passenger fatalities: 8, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. The aircraft, registered to a private individual, departed Villavicencio-La Vanguardia Airport on a charter flight to Mitú, carrying 17 passengers and two pilots while the aircraft was certified to carry 13 passengers maximum. The crew filed an flight plan with only six people on board. Shortly after takeoff, while in initial climb, the right engine caught fire. The crew activated the fire extinguishing system but as both bottles were empty, the fire could not be contained. The captain initiated a right hand turn to return to the airport when the aircraft stalled and crashed, bursting into flames, two minutes after takeoff. Both pilots and eight passengers were killed while nine other people were injured. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire.

Aircraft reference details include registration HK-851P, MSN 383, year of manufacture 1945.

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