What happened
On the morning of the accident, a twin engine aircraft departed from Neiva-Benito Salas Airport at 09:22 local time. The flight was a scheduled service bound for Cali, carrying a total of eight people, including two pilots and six passengers.
Following takeoff, the flight crew received clearance to climb under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) to an assigned altitude of 14,500 feet. The final radio contact from the cockpit occurred at 09:40 local time. Shortly after this communication, while the aircraft was navigating through cloud cover at an altitude of 14,271 feet, it collided with the side of Mt Nevado del Huila, which reaches an elevation of 5,750 meters.
Search and rescue efforts were launched immediately following the loss of contact. However, the wreckage was not located until ten days later at an elevation of 4,350 meters. The impact resulted in the total destruction of the aircraft and eight fatalities.
Findings
At the time of the collision, the aircraft was operating within clouds, which prevented the crew from maintaining visual separation from the terrain.