A 727-200 freighter operated by Aerosucre has crashed shortly after takeoff from the Puerto Carreno airport near the Colombia-Venezuela border. The 41-year-old freighter, registered as HK-4544, failed to rotate as it barely cleared the runway, knocking out part of a perimeter fence and struggled to become airborne. The aircraft stayed aloft for about five miles before crashing and bursting into flames.
Five of the six crew died – one en route to the hospital – tacking yet another aviation disaster on Colombia’s record, following the discovery that the pilot of the Colombian plane that crashed, killing 71 people in Colombia “was not trained properly,” according to an attorney for the family of co-pilot Fernando Goytia.
Weather conditions at the time of the crash included scattered clouds, winds out of the east at eight knots, and 87 degrees.
The ch-aviation website shows that the downed freighter entered into service in 1975 as a passenger aircraft with Air Jamaica, where it served until 1997. The aircraft was then converted to a cargo configuration, where if flew for various U.S.-based cargo carriers, including KittyHawk, before being transferred to Aerosucre in 2008.
Currently, there is no official explanation for the crash, however Boeing released a statement saying that the company was, “saddened to hear of the crash of an Aerosucre Colombia 727-200 cargo airplane near Puerto Carreno, Colombia. We extend our deepest condolences to the families of those who perished, as well as our best wishes for the recovery of those injured. Boeing stands ready to provide technical assistance under the direction of government investigating authorities.”
In November 2006, another Aerosucre 727F crashed after taking off from Bogota, killing all five on board.
This video (below), uploaded to YouTube, purports to show the Dec. 21 crash, recorded by a plane-spotter at the edge of the runway.
A video uploaded to Youtube in October showed an Aerosucre 727 barely clearing the fence upon takeoff from the same airport (see below).