Colombian lawmaker Diogenes Quintero and congressional candidate Carlos Salcedo were aboard the plane

Satena Airlines plane on Nov. 9, 2022.Credit : Federico PARRA/AFP via getty

NEED TO KNOW

A plane carrying 15 people went missing over Colombia on Jan. 28, according to officials
Among those onboard were lawmaker Diogenes Quintero and congressional candidate Carlos Salcedo
Satena Airlines later confirmed that their plane had crashed, and no survivors were found at the site

After a plane carrying 15 people disappeared while flying in Colombia, officials said the aircraft was found after it crashed in the northeast region of the country, with no survivors.

A source from the nation’s air force and local media confirmed to Reuters that all 15 passengers on board the plane died in the fatal incident on Wednesday, Jan. 28. The City Paper Bogotá also reported that authorities confirmed that Satena Airlines flight NSE 8849 had crashed near Curasica, Playa de Belén, Norte de Santander with no known survivors.

In a statement shared to their X account on Wednesday, Satena confirmed the fatal crash and listed the names of the 15 individuals aboard the plane who had died, while expressing their condolences.

The airline said in a social media post earlier in the day that Flight NSE 8849 — which was carrying 13 passengers and two crew members, and covering the Cúcuta to Ocaña route — took off just before 11:45 a.m. local time and was expected to land at 12:05 p.m.

However, the jet “reported its last contact with air traffic control” at 11:54 a.m., officials said.

The airline then said they had activated “all available resources, in coordination with the Command and Control Center of the Colombian Aerospace Force and the Technical and Accident Investigation Directorate of the Civil Aeronautics, to carry out the search for the aircraft.”

According to Reuters, citing Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, lawmaker Diogenes Quintero and Carlos Salcedo, a candidate for Congress, were on the aircraft. Satena listed the names of both individuals in their statement on X, confirming the crash.

In a statement obtained by Reuters, representatives for Quintero said they had not had contact with him or his assistant, Natalia Acosta Salcedo, since the plane took off.

The plane vanished in a remote region in a mountainous area home to coca plants, where illegal armed groups such as the National Liberation Army (ELN) and a dissident faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) operate, Reuters reported.

On Wednesday, Maria Fernanda Rojas, Colombia’s minister of transport, wrote in a post on X that the Directorate of Accident Investigation was “currently gathering information regarding the loss of communication.”

She noted that the corresponding protocols had been activated, and a unified command post had been initiated.

The airline also shared a telephone line so relatives of the passengers on board could receive information about the incident.

“Any additional information will be communicated promptly by the airline through its official channels,” Satena Airlines said.