Qualla: 1980 Riohacha TAC Caravelle Crash

1980 Riohacha TAC Caravelle Crash: Introduction

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Four days before Christmas, 1980, a plane full of holiday travelers exploded over the Colombian countryside. The aircraft—a Sud Aviation Caravelle registered as HK-1810—had been carrying 70 people on a multi-stop domestic route when it broke apart ten minutes after departing Riohacha. There were no survivors. Many of the passengers had been returning from Christmas shopping in the border town of Maicao, their purchases destined for family celebrations in Medellín that would never happen. The crash was, at the time, the deadliest aviation disaster in Colombian history.

1980 Riohacha TAC Caravelle Crash: A Plane Rushed Back to Service

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Caravelle involved in the crash, HK-1810, had been grounded for two months of maintenance work before the accident. The aircraft was a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI-R, a French-built twin-engine jetliner that had been manufactured in April 1963—making it seventeen years ol...

1980 Riohacha TAC Caravelle Crash: The Last Morning

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

On December 21, HK-1810 departed Bogotá on a route that would take it to Barranquilla, Valledupar, Riohacha, Medellín, and back to the capital. The plane landed in Barranquilla at 11:47 a.m. and departed thirteen minutes later. After a stop in Valledupar, it arrived in Riohacha a...

1980 Riohacha TAC Caravelle Crash: Fire Over the Sierra Nevada

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Arhuaco indigenous people from the nearby Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta arrived in Riohacha sometime after the crash and reported seeing a plane engulfed in flames. Rescue patrols set out for the crash site but suspended operations at 6:54 p.m. as darkness fell. Aerial surveys the...

1980 Riohacha TAC Caravelle Crash: Seventy Lives, Four Days Before Christmas

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The seventy dead came mostly from Colombia's interior, particularly Medellín. Many had flown to the Guajira Peninsula to shop in Maicao, a border town near Venezuela known for duty-free goods—a common pre-Christmas tradition. Entire families were wiped out. The Hernández, Cortés,...