Cargo Plane Crash in Colombia Kills Five

Another aviation tragedy hit Colombia this week when a cargo plane crashed in the eastern part of the country on its way to Bogotá, killing five of the six people aboard. A flight technician was the only survivor while the other crew members on the Boeing 727 all lost their lives in the fatal accident that is still being investigated to determine the cause, according to Aerocivil, the aviation authority in Colombia.

The flight, HK-4544 operated by Bogotá-based cargo carrier Aerosucre, fell out of the air three minutes taking off from Germán Olano Airport in Puerto Carreño, a small city in the department of Vichada that borders Venezuela. Footage of the crash recorded by a local resident has been shown in Colombian media and spread widely across the internet.

This tragedy comes just weeks after a charter plane crashed in the department of Antioquia, killing 71 people, including all but a few of the players from Brazilian football team Chapecoense.

That awful accident galvanized both nations in solidarity to mourn those lost and celebrate the memories of a team that had been in the midst of a Cinderella run to the finals in a major South American club tournament.

Another flight operated by Aerosucre crashed in 2006. That accident, which reportedly occurred when the aircraft struck an antenna in the Amazonian department of Leticia, also killed five people, according to 1001Crash.

Photo: An Aerosucre plane on the runway in 2011. (Credit: Aero Icarus)