Miami-bound cargo plane crashes in Colombia; 2 killed

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A flower-laden US cargo plane headed for Miami crashed near the Colombian capital on Monday, killing two people on the ground, according to local authorities. None of the plane's US crew was reported killed, although a hospital director said one was in serious condition. It was the second time in about six weeks that a Boeing 747 flown by Kalitta Air of Ypsilanti, Michigan, has crashed. The plane's crew told air traffic controllers that one of the engines was on fire and radio contact was lost seconds later, said Donald Tascon, deputy director of Colombia's civil aviation agency, to RCN radio. The cause was under investigation. Madrid village Mayor Diego Humberto Sicard said the plane hit a ranch roughly 25 kilometers northwest of Bogota at 3:50 a.m.. The two people who died, Pedro and Edwin Suarez, lived in a small house on a ranch, the mayor said.