Small plane crashes in rural area of Colombia, killing 15 people including congressman

A small plane crash in Colombia kills 15, including Congressman Diógenes Quintero, prompting an investigation into the tragedy.

A small plane crashed on Wednesday (January 28, 2026) in a rural area of Norte de Santander province in northeast Colombia, killing all 15 people on board including a member of Congress, authorities said.

Satena, the state-owned airline that operated the flight, said local officials in the community of Curasica notified authorities about where the plane had gone down and a rescue team was deployed to “assess the condition of the passengers.”

Colombia’s Transportation Ministry later released a statement saying that “once the aircraft was located on site, authorities regrettably confirmed that there were no survivors.”

The aircraft, which has a registration number of HK4709, took off at 11:42 a.m. local time from the airport in Cúcuta, the department’s capital, bound for Ocaña, a municipality surrounded by mountains, on a flight that typically lasts about 40 minutes.

The aircraft’s final contact with air traffic control came minutes after takeoff, according to a statement released by Satena.

Officials did not provide a cause for the crash, but said there would be an investigation.