Flight History
On 3 August 2016, a Piper PA28-161, registration HK4856G, operated by Protécnica Centro de Entrenamiento Aeronáutico S.A, was conducting a dual instruction VFR flight from Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport (SKBQ) in Barranquilla. The flight was to practice maneuvers in training area R1, located 3.8 NM north of SKBQ at 2,500 feet. The aircraft departed at 13:43 local time and established in R1 at 13:49.
After performing 20- and 30-degree turns for about 20 minutes, the crew observed deteriorating visibility and ceiling due to convective clouds on the return route to SKBQ. They notified ATC of their intention to return via the north, but ATC advised that weather was significantly deteriorated there and recommended routing northwest via Galapa toward runway 05, where conditions were slightly acceptable but worsening.
Attempts to Return
The crew followed ATC guidance, but after two minutes, ATC reported that runway 05 weather had worsened. The instructor then contacted the company's operations chief via internal frequency, who confirmed satellite imagery showed deteriorating conditions over Barranquilla and also along the route to Cartagena (SKCG). The crew decided to proceed toward Santa Marta (SKSM) if conditions at SKBQ did not improve. At 14:08, SKBQ was closed due to adverse weather.
The instructor chose to hold VFR over area R1, waiting for improvement. The ceiling was about 1,500 feet without precipitation. The instructor requested descent to 1,000 feet to maintain visual conditions. After about 10 minutes, ATC reported slight improvement toward runway 23, with scattered and broken clouds at 800 feet.
Another training aircraft in R1 requested and received clearance to fly along the coast toward runway 23. The HK4856G crew requested the same route, maintaining a four-minute separation. While proceeding, the crew observed the cloud ceiling at 600 feet AGL and requested vectors, which were not provided. They entered a convective cloud and lost visual conditions, so the instructor decided to return to R1. The other aircraft successfully landed on runway 23.
Forced Landing
Back in visual conditions, the crew noticed the convective formation moving north and north-northwest, reducing the ceiling to 800 feet AGL. Attempting to proceed toward Santa Marta, they encountered severe turbulence that caused an abrupt descent from 900 to 600 feet. The instructor again returned to R1.
With visibility reducing, ceiling at 500 feet AGL, heavy rain, and turbulence, the instructor decided to perform a forced landing on a beach area adjacent to R1. At 14:57 local time, the aircraft landed on soft sandy terrain. During the landing, the aircraft sustained substantial damage: the nose section was heavily damaged, the propeller detached, the engine mount partially failed, and the left wing main beams separated from the fuselage.
Rescue and Injuries
After the aircraft came to a stop, the occupants called air traffic services, who alerted rescue organizations. Both occupants exited the aircraft unaided. The instructor suffered a minor head injury; the student was uninjured. A Colombian Navy helicopter rescued them. SKBQ reopened at 15:00 local time under VMC.