A Colombian Air Force Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules with 125 people on board crashed shortly after takeoff on March 23, 2026, near Puerto Leguízamo in the far south of the country near Colombia’s border with Peru.
Emergency crews and local residents rushed to the scene as authorities worked to account for those on board. The aircraft reportedly went down about two kilometers from the airport after departing from the remote Amazon region strip, according to Colombian officials cited by the Associated Press.
Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said the C-130 was transporting troops when the crash occurred. Air Force Commander Carlos Fernando Silva said the aircraft had some type of problem shortly after takeoff, but authorities had not yet identified what went wrong.
Silva said the C-130, with the military designation FAC 1016, carried 114 passengers and 11 crew members. Casualty figures remained fluid as rescue operations continued. The Associated Press reported that at least 48 people had been rescued alive from the crash site. Reuters later reported that at least one person had died and 77 people had been hospitalized, while Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the status of more than 40 people had not yet been confirmed. Those numbers indicated officials were still trying to establish a full toll hours after the crash.
Images shared by Colombian media showed a black column of smoke rising from a field near the crash site. The Associated Press reported that local residents used motorcycles to help move injured soldiers away from the wreckage, while the Colombian Air Force dispatched two medical aircraft to evacuate the wounded to hospitals.
Colombia has operated C-130 aircraft since the late 1960s and has updated part of the aging fleet with used aircraft transferred from the United States. Colombia operates a relatively small number of C-130s, mainly older B and H models. Some within the country have called for modernizing Colombia’s troop transport fleet with newer aircraft.