Líneas Aéreas La Urraca was a Colombian airline.

History

The company was formed in 1962 by brothers Jaramillo Henao for the purpose of providing air transport of supplies to more remote communities of the Eastern Plains and the national territories. His place of business was established in the city Vanguardia airport in Villavicencio. Began operations with 2

Douglas B-18 Bolo The Douglas B-18 Bolo is an American twin-engined medium bomber which served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force (as the Digby) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was developed by the Douglas Airc ...

, a

light bomber A light bomber is a relatively small and fast type of military bomber aircraft that was primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance. The earliest light bombers were intended to dr ...

converted to a cargo plane. Urraca first Curtiss C-46 were delivered later this year. In 1963, Urraca acquired several

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the 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 ...

to extend their routes to replace these routes were previously operated by Aerotaxi regularly, the subsidiary of

Avianca Avianca S.A. (acronym in Spanish for ''Aerovias de Colombia S.A.'', "Airways of Colombia", and stylized as avianca since October 2023) is the largest airline in Colombia. It has been the flag carrier of Colombia since December 5, 1919, when it ...

. In 1970, Urraca acquired three Handley Page Heralds for the new secondary routes recently awarded by the Civil Aviation Authority and which had ceased to be operated temporarily by TAC. In 1975, Urraca delivered 2 Britten Norman Islander and changed their livery with various colors. In 1979, the airline ceased operations.

Fleet

Aircraft used throughout the years were: *

Curtiss C-46 Commando The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a low-wing, twin-engine aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurized high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company p ...

Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for tro ...

* Handley Page Herald *

Britten-Norman Islander The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a British light utility aircraft and regional airliner designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. Still in production, the Islander is one of the best-selling commercial airc ...

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a retired British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. T ...

Accidents and incidents

*On Monday 26 November 1962, a Curtiss C-46A Commando crashed into the Port Henderson Hills of Saint Catherine Jamaica shortly after departing Palisadoes Airport (now Norman Manley International). The aircraft was ferrying 2 engines and parts from Fairbank with scheduled refuelling stops in Miami and Kingston. A fuel tank venting issue delayed the departure. The aircraft hit the brow of the hill whilst in a shallow left bank, scraped along the ground and fell down a precipice catching fire roughly 3 minutes after departure. 2 of the three occupants on board were killed. *On 20 June 1969, a

was hijacked on a domestic flight within

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

from La Vanguardia Airport,

Villavicencio Villavicencio () is a city and municipality in Colombia. The capital of Meta Department, it was founded on April 6, 1840. The municipality had a population of 531,275 in 2018. The city is located at 4°08'N, 73°40'W, 75 km (about 45 ...

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

. The aircraft landed in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. *On 12 February 1970,

Douglas C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troo ...

HK-1270 crashed while attempting to return to

, an hour an 18 minutes after its departure on a flight to Inírida. Because of an overspeed problem in the number one engine, 55 minutes after takeoff, the pilot announced that he was turning around, and the airplane crashed 23 minutes later. The 10 passengers and four crew were all killed. *On 21 January 1972,

HK-1347 crashed at

Funza Funza () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Western Savanna Province, of the Departments of Colombia, department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca. Funza is situated on the Bogotá savanna, the southwestern part of the Altiplano C ...

after an explosion on board. All 20 people on board were killed.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lineas Aereas La Urraca Defunct airlines of Colombia Airlines established in 1962 Airlines disestablished in 1979 1979 disestablishments in Colombia Colombian companies established in 1962