Bogota Colombia — BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) – Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro Officials on Tuesday raised questions over the use of secondhand planes by the country’s armed forces. Dozens of soldiers killed in crash of a military transport plane In southwestern Colombia.
“An army cannot protect its own people with dirty gifts,” Petro wrote on X, in reference to a Hercules CJ-130 that was donated to Colombia by the United States. “They give away everything that is useless to them – and the ‘gift’ costs more than buying it new.”
A military transport plane crashed shortly after takeoff in Colombia’s Putumayo province on Monday, the Defense Ministry said, killing at least 66 soldiers. Officials said 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 Bogotá and elsewhere.
The Hercules CJ-130 was donated by the US to Colombia in 2020 under a cooperation agreement that also included the donation of two other used Hercules aircraft.
In 2023, the aircraft underwent an extensive modification known as an overhaul, in which its engines were inspected and major components were replaced.
Erich Saumeth, a Colombian aviation expert and military analyst, said investigators must now determine why the four-engine Hercules failed shortly after takeoff.
“I don’t think this plane crashed because of a lack of good parts,” Someth said.
Former Colombian President Iván Duque, who was in office when Hercules was donated, urged Petro to “calm down and breathe” in a message on Twitter.
Duke wrote, “You should conduct a rigorous investigation to see how much weight the aircraft was carrying compared to the length of the runway.”
The airport at Puerto Leguizamo has a short runway, only 1.2 kilometers (less than a mile) in length. Officials said the plane crashed in a field less than 2 kilometers from the airport.
Petro, who has used the crash to promote his longtime campaign to modernize aircraft and other equipment used by his country’s military, has said those efforts have been blocked by “bureaucratic difficulties” and suggested that some officials should be held accountable.
“If civilian or military administrative officials are not ready for the challenge, they should be removed,” Petrou said on Monday.
Critics of the president have pointed out that the execution of military contracts has declined under Petro’s administration, as well as reduced flight hours for military aircraft due to cuts in Colombia’s defense budget.
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