Colombia’s transport minister, Maria Fernanda Rojas Mantilla, says contact has been lost with a Beech 1900D regional airliner with 15 occupants.
She states that the Colombian civil aviation regulator Aeronautica Civil is gathering information on the aircraft which was operating the domestic Cucuta-Ocana route in the north of the country.
The minister identifies the airframe involved as HK-4709, which was transporting 13 passengers and two crew members.
It departed Cucuta at 11:42 on 28 January and was scheduled to land at 12:05. The last contact with air traffic control took place at 11:54, according to Colombian airline Satena.
Satena states that, as of 14:00, the aircraft had “exceeded its flight endurance”.
Flight 8849 was being operated by the carrier Searca.
It says the military and Searca have been conducting overflights in the area where the last information was recorded, together with searches along the aircraft’s route.
“We are supporting the aeronautical authorities in carrying out the established protocols for these situations,” states the minister.
