Draft:ACES Flight 052

• Comment: All sources consist of databases, the final report, and contemporary coverage. Retrospective coverage is needed here to establish notability. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 16:07, 24 August 2026 (UTC)

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ACES Flight 052

A de Havilland Twin Otter similar to the aircraft involved
Accident
Date	January 23, 1985
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error
Site	Cerro el Plateado, Salgar Province, Colombia 6.05°N 75.916667°W / 6.05; -75.916667
Aircraft
Aircraft type	de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300
Operator	ACES
Registration	HK-1910
Flight origin	El Caraño Airport, Quibdó, Colombia
Destination	José María Córdova International Airport, Rionegro, Colombia
Occupants	23
Passengers	21
Crew	2
Fatalities	23
Survivors	0

ACES Colombia Flight 052 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Quibdó, Colombia to Medellín, Colombia. On January 23, 1985, the aircraft operating the flight crashed into the Cerro el Plateado mountains at 11,500 feet while on final approach to Medellín Airport, killing all 23 passengers and crew onboard, including 2 children. The investigation found that the pilots continued to fly according to visual flight rules in the foggy and misty/rainy weather encountered while on final approach when they should have switched to instrument flight rules (IFR) due to the reduced visibility. The crash occurred at the same time as the crash of AIRES Flight 585, an Embraer Badeirante which crashed as a result of similar circumstances, killing all 15 passengers and crew onboard. The crash sites of both aircraft were only 150 miles apart.

Aircraft and crew

The aircraft involved was an ACES Colombia (Aerolineas Centrales de Colombia) de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300, registration HK-1910 (serial no. 497), manufactured in 1976. It was powered by two Pratt & Whitney PT6A-27 turboprop engines. The crew consisted of captain Antonio Jose Bernal Rendon (aged 50) and first officer Efrain Montoya Arango (aged 29). Captain Rendon had accumulated a total of 16,626 flight hours, of which 2,364 were on the Twin Otter 300. First officer Arango had accumulated a total of 3,860 flight hours, of which 3,510 were on the Twin Otter 300.

Accident

The flight took off from Quibdo at 10 AM local time. The flight was relatively uneventful. The last recorded transmission received by the crew took place at 10:25 AM as the flight was passing the village of Ekino. The flight then impacted the side of the Cerro el Plateado mountain at 10:35 AM local time, killing all 23 occupants onboard. Rescue crews had trouble finding the flight due to the poor weather conditions which continued well after the crash and included rain, mist, and fog, reducing visibility. The aircraft was written off.

Investigation

The Civil Aviation Authority (Departamento Administrativo de Aeronáutica Civil) of Colombia was assigned to determine the cause of the accident. It was found that at the time of the disappearance of the aircraft, it was north of the village of Ekino and was supposed to cross the 252 radial at the Medellin VOR beacon. The analysis also found that the aircraft was at an altitude below the required altitude for flying in IMC conditions. The crew had made an error by flying according to visual flight rules when they were supposed to fly in IMC conditions due to the bad weather and the flight conditions at the time did not permit flying under VFR. As a result, the crew could not see that they were flying towards the mountain.

The final report issued by the CAA determined that the main cause of the crash was the captain's decision to fly into bad weather under VFR instead of IMC as well as flying at an altitude lower than the recommended altitude for IMC conditions. The airline was also punished for not providing adequate oversight to ensure that flight crews do not deviate from their assigned routes and altitudes.

Some of the recommendations implemented as a result of the crash included:

• making sure that airline operators provide adequate supervision and oversight to flight crews ensuring that no crew deviates from their assigned flight paths and that crews follow the rules for flying in either IMC or VFR conditions depending on what the situation calls for