Colombian authorities reported that a plane from the airline Satena, with 13 passengers and two crew on board and which had disappeared earlier this Wednesday (28) while traveling between the cities of Cúcuta and Ocaña, in the department of Norte de Santander (northeast), was located and there are no survivors.
The Secretary of Citizen Security of Norte de Santander, George Quintero, confirmed to Noticias Caracol radio that the aircraft was found by farmers in the village of Curasica, in the municipality of Playa de Belén, who informed the authorities that they did not find anyone alive.
The aircraft had taken off from Camilo Daza Airport, in Cúcuta, capital of Norte de Santander, bound for Ocaña, but did not arrive at Águas Claras Airport, the second largest in the department, at the scheduled time.
According to Satena, “flight NSE8849, which was on the Cúcuta-Ocaña route, took off at around 11:42 am [13h42 de Brasília] and was expected to land at around 12:05 pm. The last contact with air traffic control was at 11:54 am.”
Sources from the center-right Partido de la U confirmed to the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo that deputy Diógenes Quintero and candidate for the Chamber of Deputies Carlos Salcedo, affiliated with the party, were among the passengers on the plane.
The party reported that, in addition to the politicians, their press teams were also on board.
The plane is an American-made Beechcraft, registration HK4709, with capacity for 19 passengers, operated by the company Searca, according to Satena.
The flight between Cúcuta and Ocaña lasts approximately 25 minutes and, according to the Flightradar flight tracking platform, the aircraft lost contact while flying over a mountainous area between the cities of Ábrego and La Playa, in Norte de Santander. It has not yet been revealed what caused the crash.
Before authorities confirmed the crash and that there were no survivors, sources from the Partido de la U had stated that the plane had likely crashed and that military personnel were on their way to carry out a rescue operation.
