Colombia’s defence ministry on Monday said that a Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130 aircraft met with an accident in the country’s southern region. According to local outlet BluRadio, around 110 soldiers were reportedly travelling on the plane at the time.
Colombia’s Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed grief over the crash in a post on X. “With deep sorrow, I report that a Hercules aircraft from our @FuerzaAereaCol suffered a tragic accident while taking off from Puerto Leguízamo (Putumayo), as it was transporting troops from our Public Force,” he said.
He added that military units had reached the site, but “the exact number of victims and the causes of the crash have not yet been determined.”
There was no immediate response from US defence company Lockheed Martin regarding the incident.
The accident comes just weeks after another Hercules C-130, operated by the Bolivian Air Force, crashed in the densely populated city of Alto at the end of February. That incident left more than 20 people dead and around 30 injured, with banknotes from the aircraft’s cargo scattering across the city and leading to clashes between residents and security forces.
LaGuardia airport crash
In a separate incident, at New York’s LaGuardia airport, two pilots died and 32 passengers of an Air Canada Express jet were injured after the aircraft collided with a fire truck at the time of landing.
The Air Canada Express CRJ-900 plane, operated by its regional partner Jazz Aviation, was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members from Montreal, news agency Reuters reported.
The airport operations have been suspended following the incident with the airport authorities saying that the National Transportation Safety Board is on site to investigate the freak accident. “The airport will remain closed until at least 2:00pm Monday 3/23/26 to allow for a thorough investigation,” the airport authorities said in a statement on X.
As per the initial information, the fire truck was on the runway as it was responding to another incident when it hit the Air Canada Express CRJ-900 plane.
