Commercial Flight Reported Missing, Last Contact Was Over Remote Colombian Amazon Region
Colombia’s Ministry of Transportation has confirmed that at 7:34am this morning, a charter plane carrying seven occupants declared an emergency while flying between Araracuara airport (ACR/SKAC) and San José de Guaviare (SJE/SKSJ). Both airports are in the sparsely populated rainforest region of Colombia along different tributaries of the Amazon river.
Along with the pilot, the charter plane, operated by Avianline Charter was said to be carrying two adults and four children. According to Colombian search and rescue authorities, the plane is thought to be south of San José de Guaviare, near the Apaporis river.
The Colombian air force has already launched a Basler BT-67 (modified, remanufactured DC-3) known locally as an AC-47 Fantasma, and a UH-1H Huey in a search and rescue operation over the remote area.
The missing aircraft was a Cessna Caravan C206 (above photo).
Headline photo Apaporis river courtesy Colombian Ministry of Science. Above photo: Taxi 2 Runway Facebook page