Colombian Air Official Killed in Plane Crash
A month after being appointed to improve Colombia’s poor air-safety record, the nation’s top aviation regulator was killed along with 13 others Saturday in a plane crash, the government and news reports said.
The twin-engine Cessna Titan slammed into a Bogota neighborhood minutes after taking off from Bogota’s El Dorado airport, the RCN radio network said.
All seven people aboard were killed, including Fernando Corrales, the head of Colombia’s civil aeronautics board, and his deputy, Javier Vallejo, said the board’s operations director, Col. Luis German Paez.
Those killed on the ground included four children, RCN reported. It said at least 15 people on the ground were injured.
Aviation officials said the plane reported problems with its left engine within two minutes after takeoff.
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