What happened
On the morning of the accident, the aircraft, registered as HK-155, departed from Condoto at 09:50LT. The flight was intended to travel toward Cali with a planned waypoint via Buenaventura. Shortly after departure, the crew transitioned from the Condoto Tower frequency to the Cali aeronautical telecommunications frequency. During this communication, the pilot reported that the aircraft was carrying 12 passengers and a total load of 975 kg.
Following this update at 09:58, no further radio contact was established with the aircraft on any available frequencies. While a typical flight between Condoto and Cali is expected to last approximately 50 to 55 minutes, air traffic control in Cali attempted to contact the aircraft at 10:37 without success. By 11:07, Bogota ATC had officially declared an alert for the missing flight.
Search efforts eventually located the wreckage on a wooded mountainside situated 32 km west of Tuluá. The accident resulted in 15 fatalities, with no survivors among the occupants.
Findings
The investigation concluded that the crash was caused by instrument flight at an inadequate altitude. Several contributing elements were identified, including the pilot's failure to adhere to the planned Buenaventura route and the decision to fly using instruments, which prevented visual position verification. The crew did not utilize the El Paso radio beacon to confirm their location, likely due to over-confidence in their familiarity with the route.
Additional contributing factors included flying outside of established airways, unfavorable weather conditions, and the use of an unauthorized direct route between Condoto and Cali that had not been approved by the Civil Aeronautics Department.