A plane carrying 15 people, including a congressman,
has gone missing in Colombia – emergency services have launched a search for the plane.
Colombia’s transport ministry said authorities had lost all contact with Satana Airlines flight HK4709, which was carrying two crew members and 13 passengers.
Diogenes Quintero, a member of Colombia’s House of Representatives, is reportedly aboard the missing plane.
Satana Airlines announced the deployment of “all available resources” to locate the plane, and the government also provided assistance in the search.
Colombia’s Transport Minister Mafe Rojas said on Twitter, “We are gathering information about the loss of communication with flight HK4709, which was flying on the Cúcuta-Ocaña route with 13 passengers and 2 crew members on board.”
The jet is believed to be a small aircraft, specifically the Beechcraft 1900.
The plane was taking off from Cucuta and heading towards Ocaña, near the Venezuelan border, before it mysteriously disappeared.
In Ocaña, local mayor Emilio Cañizares Plata is participating in search and rescue efforts.
Satana Airlines said, “Flight NSE 8849, covering the Cucuta-Ocaña route, which took off at approximately 11:42 am and was scheduled to land at approximately 12:05 am, reported its last contact with air traffic control at 11:54 am today.”
The flight data shows the last recorded position of the aircraft – in an area of the Catatumbo region.
El Tiempo reported that airport officials believed the jet had “lost contact with the tower”.
Congressman Diogenes Quintero, along with congressional candidate Carlos Salcedo Salazar, was aboard the plane when it disappeared, the outlet reported.
The political party Union for the People claimed that members of its team of officials were also on the flight.
He said the national army had been deployed to help in the search effort.
It is currently unclear why the jet lost all contact – but local airport officials said the plane’s flight history showed that there was a sudden drop in altitude 11 minutes before its expected landing.
Its last known position was over a remote area filled with dense forest, complicating search efforts.
The flight, operated by state-owned airline Satena, is believed to have been affected by adverse weather conditions, a government official said. Al Jazeera.
There will be more updates soon.
