What happened
During a late-evening flight departing from a small airfield near Manaus, a North American Rockwell Sabreliner (operating under the fraudulent registration YV1246) entered Venezuelan airspace without authorization. The aircraft was transporting 616 small packages of cocaine at the time of the incident. After crossing into Venezuelan territory, air traffic control attempted to establish communication with the flight crew on two separate occasions, but the crew did not respond to the radio calls.
In an attempt to intercept the aircraft, authorities dispatched two fighter jets to establish visual and radio contact. However, due to the darkness and poor weather conditions, the pilots of the Navajo were not intercepted during the initial attempt. Three hours later, the aircraft was detected again while flying over the state of Cojedens. Following the detection, the decision was made to engage the aircraft. The Navajo lost control and crashed into a pasture in the Ricaurte region. The impact destroyed the aircraft entirely.
Findings
- The aircraft was operating with an illegal registration, as a sticker for YV1246 had been placed over the original Brazilian registration, PT-RCN.
- The flight crew failed to respond to multiple air traffic control communications.
- The decision to shoot down the aircraft led to the crash and the subsequent deaths of both pilots.