The 2019 Laser Aereo DC-3 crash was an aviation accident that took place on 9 March 2019, when a

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

operated by Latinoamericana de Servicios Aereo ( Laser Aéreo) crashed near

San Carlos de Guaroa San Carlos de Guaroa () is a town and municipality in the Meta Department, Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbe ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. The plane was on a flight from

Jorge Enrique González Torres Airport Jorge Enrique González Torres Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Jorge Enrique González Torres) is an airport serving San José del Guaviare, the capital of the Guaviare Department of Colombia. The runway is just north of the town and parallels the Gua ...

San José del Guaviare San José del Guaviare () is a town and municipality in Colombia, capital of the department of Guaviare by the Guaviare River The Guaviare is a tributary of the Orinoco in Colombia. It flows together with the upper Orinoco (until here also ca ...

La Vanguardia Airport La Vanguardia Airport is an airport serving the city of Villavicencio in the Meta Department of Colombia. It serves regular passenger, charter and cargo airlines as well as private sectors. The airport is just north of the city. Airlines and d ...

, Villavicencio. All 14 people on board were killed, including the mayor of

Taraira Taraira is a town and municipality located in the Vaupés Department, Republic of Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Car ...

. The crew were attempting to land at Villavicencio and had just declared an emergency.

Aircraft

The Aeronautica Civil reports that the aircraft, registered ''HK-2494'', was built in 1945, for the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) as a Douglas TC-47B-DK (USAAF ''44-76773'' / MSN 16357 / 33105), and converted to a Douglas R4D-7 (USN Bureau Number ''99826'') for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

on 14 May 1945. Re-designated as a Douglas TC-47K in 1962, it was transferred to the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

on 8 Oct 1971 with civil registration N87611.

Crash

As the aircraft was cruising, the left engine suffered a failure, which disabled the oil system in that engine. The crew then radioed in a mayday and diverted to La Rinconada, a plantation. While they were descending, the crew could not

feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premier ...

the engine which was required in an engine failure, thus they began to lose speed as the engine windmilled, creating drag. At 10:31 am local time, the crew made their final transmission stating they had the runway in sight. Ground witnesses in the area said they saw the aircraft doing several turns while descending. The aircraft then crashed in proximity to a road, coming to rest just over the road, on fire. Plantation workers rushed to help, but they found no survivors.

Aircraft

Crash

See also

References

Further reading