Latest information on Spanish.
Colombian authorities have found no survivors after a plane carrying 13 passengers and two crew members crashed on Wednesday, Colombia’s Civil Aviation Authority told CNN.
Colombian congressman Diogenes Quintero was among the participants, according to the party that nominated him for Congress.
Quintero’s communications team announced that contact between him and his assistant was lost after the plane disappeared. His team said the last location registered on their phones was Cucuta’s Camilo Daza Airport “before takeoff.”
Quintero has been a member of Congress since 2022 and was the head of the Special Peace Constituency, one of 16 seats in Congress representing victims of violence, as part of a 2016 peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) militants.
“Diogenes Quintero was a leader who had a firm sense of duty to serve, a deep sense of public responsibility, and was committed to his community,” the Colombian Unity Party said.
Transport Minister Maria Fernanda Rojas said the plane, operated by national airline Satena, lost contact with air traffic control shortly after takeoff.
It was flying from Cucuta to Ocaña in northeastern Norte de Santander.
The plane 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 reported.
According to aviation tracking site FlightAware, the plane’s signal went out nine minutes after takeoff from Camilo Daza Airport.
After a multi-aircraft search, authorities found the crashed plane in the countryside of La Playa de Belem, authorities said.
The Norte de Santander governor’s office expressed its condolences to the families of the victims.
“We deeply regret the tragedy that occurred following the aircraft accident confirmed in the last few hours in the countryside of La Playa de Belém. We express our solidarity and extend our deepest condolences to the families, friends and loved ones of the victims,” the secretariat said.
