Plane crashes in Colombia, killing 15 including lawmaker after aircraft disappears mid-flight - Here's what happened

In a shocking incident, a plane crashed in northeast Colombia on Wednesday (Jan 28) killing all 15 people on board, including a local lawmaker. The plane that crashed was the Beechcraft 1900 twin-engined turboprop and it took off before noon from Cucuta, on the border with Venezuela, for a short flight to the town of Ocana. It was operated by Satena, which is the state-owned regional airline of Colombia, operated by the Colombian Aerospace Force to connect remote and underserved regions. According to reports, air traffic control lost contact with the plane 12 minutes into the flight. Satena reported that it took off at 11:42 a.m. ET and was scheduled to land around 12:05 p.m., but its last contact with air traffic control was at 11:54 a.m. Satena did not say what caused the crash and said the plane's emergency beacon had not been activated.

Lawmaker who died in the crash was Diogenes Quintero. Members of his team and Carlos Salcedo, a candidate for Congress ahead of elections in March were also aboard the plane. Quintero’s communications team said it lost contact with him and his assistant after the plane disappeared. The last registered location on their phones was Camilo Daza airport in Cúcuta “before takeoff,” his team said. Images released by local media showed the crashed plane, including what appeared to be significant damage to the fuselage. The area where the plane crashed is a mountainous region planted with coca leaves, the raw material for cocaine, and where illegal armed groups such as the National Liberation Army and a dissident faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia operate.

Who was Diogenes Quintero?

Diogenes Quintero was a Colombian politician and human rights defender who served as a member of the House of Representatives. He held one of the 16 “peace seats” specifically reserved for victims of Colombia's internal armed conflict. He was elected to the post in 2022. He represented the Catatumbo region in Norte de Santander, a territory historically impacted by violence and conflict. At the time of his death, he was the President of the Peace Commission in the House of Representatives.