Small passenger plane crashes in northern Colombia, killing 7

USPA News - Search and rescue teams in northern Colombia have located the wreckage of a small passenger plane that disappeared during a domestic flight, but none of the seven people on board the aircraft survived the crash, authorities said on Thursday. The Cessna 207 aircraft, operated by regional airline Alas de Colombia, went missing on Wednesday afternoon during a short flight from Bucaramanga to the town of Málaga, both in the northern province of Santander.

It was carrying six passengers and one pilot, the provincial government said. The Colombian Civil Aviation Authority said the wreckage of the aircraft was located on Thursday morning near the town of Piedecuesta, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) southeast of Bucaramanga. The bodies of the victims, which includes three women and four men, among them two brothers, were all recovered from the scene. The provincial government said the aircraft had departed Palonegro International Airport at 2:27 p.m. on Wednesday but reported a mechanical failure within minutes. The pilot, identified as Carlos Rueda, tried to return to the airport without success and all contact was lost. Details about the exact nature of the mechanical problems were not immediately released. Wednesday`s crash comes just months after another deadly plane crash in Colombia. Eight passengers and two crew members were killed in early September when a small passenger plane belonging to the Laser company crashed in the Amazon jungle in southeastern Colombia. Among the victims were two researchers of the Humboldt Institute.