Scudrunners Aviation News – A Columbian Police DC-3 (BT-67) crashed on take off at the Villavicencio airport with 26 passengers and crew on board. The aircraft is a DC-3 converted to Turbo Prop otherwise known as a Basler BT-67 aircraft. The aircraft was carrying 26 passengers and crew, 12 reported minor injuries and 1 was taken to hospital with serious injuries the other 14 uninjured.
The flight reportedly landed in Villavicencio (ICAO: SKVV) for fuel, then was to depart to Mitú (ICAO: SKMU)
The aircraft was built in 1942 and it appears from the records Scudrunners could find it served in WW2 with the 410th BG, 645th BS. It was later wrecked on Jul 15, 1944 in the U.K. then later salvaged. Records indicate it was used as a mosquito control spray aircraft in Florida under the registration N840MB. It appears to have been parked in the 1970’s until about 2006 when it was converted to a Basler BT-67 and later delivered to the Columbian Police in 2012.
This is the second DC3 to crash in Columbia in a week the previous was on April 8, 2022. That DC3 operated by Aliansa Aerolineas Andinas veered off the runway in San Filipe in central Colombia. The aircraft was severely damaged, the six passengers and the crew where uninjured.
It remains unclear whether the aircraft was taking off or landing. Though described as a “landing accident” in some accounts, video of the accident clearly shows that the flaps retracted. (DC-3 Takeoff with their flaps)
The video of that accident starts with the aircraft half way down the runway, the aircraft tail then lowers and the crew loses directional control and subsequent ground looping.
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