10 Dead in Antioquia, Colombia Plane Crash

A small plane with ten individuals, including eight passengers and two crew members, crashed in a remote area of Antioquia. The Cessna 402 aircraft, HK2522, had departed from an airport in Juradó, Chocó, at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 8, going to Medellín’s Olaya Herrera Airport. The plane went missing shortly after losing radar contact around 5:40 p.m., according to Rubén Darío Lesmes Bustamante, manager of Pacífica de Aviación (the airline operating the flight) declarations to El Colombiano on Wednesday.

On Thursday, wreckage believed to be from the missing aircraft was located in the jurisdiction of Urrao, Antioquia, in the Piedras Blancas area, a location that is difficult to access. A search helicopter spotted what seems to be the plane during ongoing search-and-rescue efforts, the Colombian Civil Aviation Authority (Aerocivil) confirmed in a press release.

As soon as the plane lost contact, search-and-rescue protocols from Aerocivil (Servicio de Búsqueda y Salvamento, SAR) were activated to locate the aircraft. This mechanism has the participation of officials from the Mayors’ Office of Medellín, Urrao and Juradó, Civil Defense, Firefighters, BRAC (Colombian Aeronautical Search and Rescue Group), DAGRAN (Administrative Department of Risk Management of Antioquia.), Air Force and National Army, are currently working to reach the crash site on this operation that started on Wednesday.

Initial reports suggested the crash may have occurred in Cerro San José, but after thorough reconnaissance flights, the wreckage was ultimately identified in Cerro El Burro.

🚨 La @AerocivilCol , autoridades de Antioquia, la @FuerzaAereaCol y la @DIACC_COL avanzan en la búsqueda del avión Cessna 402 HK 2522. Se delimita un área de 40 km² entre Betulia y Urrao, suroeste de Antioquia. pic.twitter.com/9zUUXKLprW

— Aeronáutica Civil (@AerocivilCol) January 9, 2025

The remote location means a significant challenge, requiring approximately one hour of travel by road from Urrao’s main town square, followed by an additional four hours on difficult terrain. Weather conditions have further complicated the operation, with authorities hoping for clearer skies to facilitate rescue efforts and determine the cause of the crash.

Aerocivil released the identities of those on board. The crew consisted of Captains Santiago Montoya and Luis Guillermo Clavijo. The passengers were identified as Angie Sanclemente, Greimar Castro Sanclemente, Grettel Castro Sanclemente, Raquel Palacios, Cristal Sofía Hernández, Danny Moreno Culma, Miguelina García, and Yoarledis Valencia. Unfortunately, none of them survived the accident.

Furthermore, five of the passengers belonged to the same family, including a mother, her two children, and two grandchildren; two of whom were among the three minors on board.

Carlos Andrés Ríos, director of the DAGRAN, confirmed that the wreckage had been spotted in the rural outskirts of Urrao. “I have been informed that the missing aircraft has been located in the rural area of Urrao,” Ríos announced on Twitter/X.

The search team arrived at the scene of the tragedy on Friday. The bodies of the victims were transported by land to be delivered to their families

Headline Photo: The area between Betulia and Urrao, where the plane is believed to have gone down. (Photo: Aerocivil)