Accident Details
The aircraft departed Bogotá-El Dorado Airport at 0007 local time on a scheduled night flight to San Andres Island, carrying 125 passengers and a crew of six.
While approaching San Andres-Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions. Due to heavy rain, air traffic control informed the crew that visibility had dropped to 4 kilometers.
On short final, flaps were selected to 30 degrees and the autopilot system was deactivated. After passing 500 feet on approach, the captain repeated the go-around procedures in case of windshear conditions. Shortly thereafter, the copilot shouted "go-around," but half a second later the aircraft impacted the ground 49 meters short of the runway.
On impact, the undercarriage and both engines were torn off. The aircraft slid for several dozen meters before coming to rest, broken into three sections.
Injuries and Damage
Two passengers were killed, while 129 other occupants were injured, nine of them seriously.
Probable Cause
The official probable cause states: "Execution of the flight below the angle of approach, due to a misjudgment of the crew, believing to be much higher, leading the aircraft to fly a typical trajectory of a 'black hole' illusion, which was experienced during the night-time approach to a runway with low contrast surrounded in bright focused lights, aggravated by bad weather of heavy rain."