Cessna A188B HK1644 Accident in Puerto López, Colombia

Incident Overview and Location On September 1, 2020, at 08:30 local time (13:30 UTC), a Cessna A188B AG Wagon with registration HK1644 crashed in the Vereda Patagonia area of Puerto López, Meta, Colombia. The aircraft was operated by Fumigación Aérea del Oriente S.A.S. (FARO) for agricultural aerial work. The accident occurred in daylight under visual meteorological conditions. ## Flight Sequence and Impact The aircraft was scheduled for aerial spraying operations from the San Isidro airstrip (ICAO: SQID). After taking off on its first flight of the day, the aircraft lost altitude and struck the ground approximately 1,300 meters from the threshold of runway 26. The aircraft came to rest inverted, sustaining substantial damage. A deflagration occurred immediately after impact, and 50% of the structure was significantly affected by fire. ## Personnel and Injuries One person was on board: the pilot. The pilot evacuated the aircraft independently and sustained minor injuries. ## Probable Cause and Contributing Factors The investigation determined the probable cause was a loss of lift and control at low altitude after takeoff. This was primarily due to a lack of power and speed during the initial climb, which was aggravated by exceeding the critical angle of attack while executing a turn immediately after takeoff. Contributing factors included: * Possible reduced aircraft performance due to partial loss of engine power, likely related to defective operation of one of the magnetos. * An unsafe and frequent operator practice of routinely deactivating the stall warning system in the electrical circuit breaker panel, based on the mistaken belief that its repeated activation disturbed and distracted pilots during spraying operations. * The presence of obstacles in the takeoff path: a cluster of trees reaching 62 feet in height, located approximately 70 meters in the takeoff path along the extension of runway 08. These represented a significant and continuous hazard to aircraft taking off at maximum takeoff weight from San Isidro airstrip. * Lack of proficiency on the part of the pilot (the source text is cut off here, but the factor is identified).