Avianca Flight 203

Avianca Flight 203 was an internal flight from El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia to Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in Cali, Colombia. On November 27, 1989, the Boeing 727-21 (registered HK-1803) was destroyed by a bomb while flying over Soacha. All 107 passengers and 3 people on the ground were killed. The bombing was ordered by the Medellín drug cartel.

Aircraft
The aircraft was a Boeing 727-21 with registration HK-1803. It was built in 1966 and delivered to Pan Am on May 28, 1966. In 1975, the aircraft was bought from Avianca. The aircraft changed registrations when bought.

Flight
Flight 203 took off at 7:13 a.m. Shortly after, while at , a bomb was set off, causing fuel to explode. A second explosion made the front of the aircraft to separate from the back of the aircraft. The debris was spread across the town of Soacha. The crash kills all 107 passengers and crew and 3 people on the ground by a falling debris.

Aftermath
An investigation found the cause of the explosion to be plastic explosives.  Drug cartel leader, Pablo Escobar, planned the bombing. The reason was to kill Colombian presidential candidate, César Gaviria Trujillo but Gaviria did not get on the plane, and became the president of Colombia.

In popular culture
The bombing was shown in Season 1 of the television show, Narcos.

References

Category:1980s in South America
Category:20th century in Colombia
Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the 1980s
Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in South America