El Trompillo Airport is located in the south part of Santa Cruz,

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, about 2 km (1.25 miles) away from the central plaza.

Creation

It was created in 1920 with a lane that measured no more than 800 meters (2,624 feet). The airport was given the name of “Captain Horacio Vasquez” honoring a pilot who died in an accident flying from

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

to La Paz. Nevertheless, because of the location, the airport with time was known as “El Trompillo”. For the first 65 years, it was the only airport in the city, until in 1984 the international airport of Viru Viru was constructed. Since then it has only operated local flights and the landing and departure of students of the Bolivian Air Force. The first airlines to use this airport were Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano, known as LAB, and Panagra. About 70 departures and arrivals of the Air Force, and small and large airlines are registered. For a while, from 1980 to 1985, the amount of airplanes registered increased due to a combat against drug traffic. As of 2019, there is currently no commercial passenger flights since the national carrier Transporte Aéreo Militar ceased operations.

Facilities

Aerocon had its head office in Hangar 93.

Incidents

*On July 29, 1961, a Lockheed Constellation, registered N2520B to Lloyd Airlines from

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(not to be confused with

Lloyd Aereo Boliviano Lloyd, Lloyd's, or Lloyds may refer to: People * Lloyd (name), a variation of the Welsh word ' or ', which means "grey" or "brown" ** List of people with given name Lloyd ** List of people with surname Lloyd * Lloyd (singer) (born 1986), American ...

) was intercepted by the Bolivian Air Force after taking off from El Trompillo. The Lockheed Constellation tried to get away but was forced to return to El Trompillo after a chase, which resulted in the death of BAF pilot Alberto Peredo Cespedes, whose Mustang PF-51 plane crashed at Cicumvalacion avenue during the pursuit. The four people in the Constellation were arrested, accused of contraband and homicide, later released on bond and escaped. The Constellation remained in Bolivia, and was later used by Aerosur and

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for advertising purposes. The incident became known as the " Pirate Airplane Incident". (in Spanish) *On 13 October, 1976, A

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...

cargo freighter of Lloyd Aereo Boliviano registered N730JP

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shortly after takeoff from El Trompillo and hit a school, killing all three crew on board and 88 people on the ground. The cause of the accident is disputed, between pilot fatigue and improper flight preparation or an engine failure and subsequent fire.

References

"El Trompillo alza vuelo."
''El Nuevo Dia''. 29 January 2006.
"Harán estudio para traslado del aeropuerto El Trompillo."
''El Mundo''. 17 April 2006.

Footnotes

External links