“Wait—did you hear that?!”

The pilot’s voice cracked just seconds before everything changed — and what the black box captured at exactly the 28-second mark may be the most chilling clue yet behind the mysterious fate of a Colombian military aircraft carrying over 100 people. The flight had been routine, uneventful… until it wasn’t. Experts say the sudden shift recorded in those final moments wasn’t just a technical glitch — it sounded deliberate, abrupt, and deeply unsettling. Passengers had no warning. One moment, calm skies… the next, something no one onboard could have prepared for.

Now, investigators are replaying those final seconds over and over, searching for answers hidden in that brief, haunting fragment of audio. Was it a mechanical failure? Human error? Or something far more unexpected? Families are still waiting, and the truth remains just out of reach. But one thing is certain — whatever happened in that split second changed everything… and the full story may be far more disturbing than anyone is ready to accept.

Colombia military plane crash kills 66, four still missing

BOGOTA, March 23 (Reuters) – A Colombian military plane crashed in a ​takeoff disaster on Monday, killing 66 people as rescuers shuttled dozens of survivors to nearby hospitals and searched for four ‌who were still missing, according to a top official.

The Lockheed Martin-built (LMT.N) Hercules C-130 transport plane was carrying 128 people, including 11 Air Force members, 115 army personnel and two national police officers, according to Hugo Alejandro Lopez, head of the nation’s armed forces.

The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here.

The death toll was nearly double that of the previous figure given by ​authorities, who continued search and recovery efforts at the site of the deadly crash.

The accident occurred as the plane was taking ​off from Puerto Leguizamo, on the border with Peru, Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X.

The plane was believed ⁠to have suffered an impact near the end of the runway as it was taking off, firefighter Eduardo San Juan Callejas told Caracol, ​with a wing of the plane later clipping a tree as it was plummeting.

The crash caused the plane to catch fire and detonate some ​sort of explosive devices on board, he added.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

Residents of the remote area were the first to pull out survivors, with videos showing men speeding down a dirt road with wounded soldiers on the back of their motorcycles.

Military vehicles later arrived, though authorities said the crash site was difficult to reach, impeding rescue efforts.

Lopez said that 57 ​of the survivors had been hospitalized, with 30 of them in non-serious condition at a military clinic.

[1/3]Members of the military gather at the site of a Colombian military plane crash in Puerto Leguizamo, Putumayo, Colombia March 23, 2026. La Voz de Amazonia/Mare Rafue/Handout via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights

MODERNIZING THE MILITARY

President Gustavo Petro, in the ​twilight of his administration, on Monday criticized bureaucratic obstacles for delaying his plans to modernize the military.

“I will grant no further delays; it is the lives of ‌our young ⁠people that are at stake,” he said in a post on X. “If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to this challenge, they must be removed.”

Several candidates in Colombia’s upcoming May 31 presidential election offered condolences and called for an investigation.

A spokesperson for Lockheed Martin said the company was committed to helping Colombia as it investigates the incident.

Hercules C-130 planes were first launched in the 1950s and Colombia acquired its first models ​in the late 1960s. It has ​more recently modernized some older ⁠C-130s with newer models sent from the U.S. under a provision that allows for the transfer of used or surplus military equipment.

Hercules C-130s are frequently used in Colombia to transport troops as part of the military’s ​operations amid a six-decade-long internal conflict that has claimed more than 450,000 lives.

The tail number of the plane ​that crashed on Monday ⁠matches that of the first of three planes delivered by the U.S. to Colombia in recent years.

At the end of February, another Hercules C-130 belonging to the Bolivian Air Force crashed in the populous city of El Alto, barely missing a residential block.

More than 20 people died in that incident ⁠and another ​30 were injured, and banknotes from the plane’s cargo scattered around the crash site, prompting clashes ​between residents and security forces.

Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta in Bogota and Iñigo Alexander and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Mike Stone in Washington and Maria ​Paula Laguna and Kylie Madry in Mexico City; Editing by Gabriel Araujo, Julia Symmes Cobb, Chris Reese, Deepa Babington and Christian Plumb and Michael Perry

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Purchase Licensing Rights

Luis Jaime has worked at Reuters for more than 30 years. While he chiefly covers Colombia’s armed conflict and the fight against drug trafficking from capital Bogotá, he also reports on politics, human rights, corruption, sports and the coffee industry, as well as companies in the energy and mining sectors. Before joining Reuters, he worked for Colombia’s Caracol Radio network for five years. Contact: +573102107084

Sarah is a British-French journalist covering news from across Latin America and the Caribbean, including gender violence, mining developments, regional finance and conflict in Haiti. She joined Reuters in 2019 and studied investigative journalism at City, University of London. Based in Mexico City, Sarah enjoys spicy food, dad rock and befriending the local cat population.