Petro questions use of secondhand planes by Colombia’s military after deadly crash

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BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday questioned the use of secondhand planes by the country’s armed forces, as officials investigate the crash of a military transport plane that killed dozens of soldiers in southwestern Colombia.

“An army cannot defend its own people with crappy gifts,” Petro wrote on X in reference to the Hercules CJ-130, which was donated to Colombia by the United States. “They give away whatever is useless to them — and the ‘gift’ ends up costing more than buying it new.”

On Monday a military transport plane crashed shortly after taking off in Colombia’s Putumayo province, with the Defense Ministry reporting Tuesday that 67 members of the armed forces and two policemen were killed in the accident. Officials said that 57 soldiers were rescued alive from the crash site in the remote municipality of Puerto Leguizamo, and were being treated for their injuries in the capital, Bogota and elsewhere.

The Hercules CJ-130 was donated by the U.S. to Colombia in 2020 under a cooperation agreement that also included the donation of two other used Hercules planes.

In 2023, the plane went through a detailed revision known as an overhaul, in which its engines were inspected and key components were replaced.

Erich Saumeth, a Colombian aviation expert and military analyst, said that investigators must now determine why the four-engine Hercules failed so shortly after takeoff.

“I don’t think this plane crashed because of a lack of good parts,” Saumeth said.

Former Colombian President Iván Duque, who was in office when the Hercules was donated, urged Petro in a message on X to “calm down and breathe.”

“You should conduct a rigorous investigation that looks at how much weight the plane was carrying compared to the length of the runway,” Duque wrote.

The airport in Puerto Leguizamo has a short runway that is just 1.2 kilometers (less than one mile) in length. Officials said that the plane crashed in a field less than 2 kilometers away from the airport.

Petro has seized on the accident to promote what he calls his longtime campaign to modernize planes and other equipment used by his country’s military, saying those efforts have been blocked by “bureaucratic difficulties” and suggesting that some officials should be held accountable. “If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to the challenge, they must be removed,” Petro said Monday on X.

Critics of the president have pointed out that there has been a lack of execution of military contracts under Petro’s administration, as well as fewer flight hours for military planes due to cuts in Colombia’s defense budget.

On Tuesday evening, Petro declared a three-day national mourning period for the 69 dead in the plane crash.

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