What happened
A scheduled domestic flight departed La Manguita Airport in Neiva at 12:07 local time, destined for San Vicente del Cagúan. The flight was expected to arrive at its destination by 12:45. After the aircraft failed to arrive and communication ceased, the Bogotá Control Centre initiated an alert at 15:00, which was upgraded to a state of emergency at 15:40.
On November 11, at approximately 12:07, the pilot of a different aircraft notified Neiva Airway Control after observing wreckage located in the Cañón del Paraíso area, near Cerro del Diablo. The accident resulted in 23 fatalities and 3 crew members lost, while 10 survivors were successfully rescued from the site.
Findings
Investigations determined that the primary cause of the accident was pilot error, specifically the decision to continue operating under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) despite encountering unfavorable weather conditions. Furthermore, the flight path utilized was not permitted for IFR operations according to the Colombian Airways Manual.
Additional contributing factors included operational errors by ground personnel. The dispatcher failed to correctly prepare the cargo and passenger manifests as well as the load and trim sheet. This negligence resulted in the aircraft being over its weight limit by roughly 1,456 kg.