Five Rescued From Crashed Plane In Treacherous Colombian Mountains

Specialized Colombian Air Force commandos have completed the recovery and extraction of the five occupants of a Cessna T-206 aircraft that crashed on September 13 in a remote area of Tatamá National Park.

A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter in Angel configuration inserted military rescuers near the crash site. The team then traveled overland to reach the aircraft and carry out the extraction before taking the occupants to the San Mateo Battalion of the Colombian Army in Pereira.

The operation faced steep slopes, heavy rain and rugged terrain at an elevation of approximately 9,200 feet, making movement and extraction difficult.

Since the emergency began, the Colombian Air Force, in coordination with the National Personnel Recovery Center, carried out 15 missions using UH-60 Black Hawk, Bell 212, C-295, C-208 and C-90 aircraft.

The missions accumulated more than 18 hours of flight time during the operation.