US cargo plane crashes into Colombian house, 3 dead
MIAMI (AFP) — A US cargo plane taking flowers from Bogota to Miami crashed into a house shortly after take off on Monday, killing three people, officials said.
The Boeing 747, owned by Michigan-based company Kalitta Air, fell on the rural home 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of Bogota after reporting engine fire, said Colombia's Civil Aeronautics agency said.
"As a result of the accident three people -- residents of a house that the aircraft hit -- died," the agency said in a statement.
The dead included an adult and two children who lived in the farm house when it was struck by one of the plane's turbines, witnesses told local radio.
The plane's eight crew members survived the crash and were taken to a hospital in the town of Madrid. Four of them were out of danger while the rest were being treated for serious injuries, police said.
The plane had taken off from Bogota's El Dorado airport before it crashed and burst into flames.
"The plane crashed when it was trying to return to Bogota after reporting a fire in one engine," Donald Tascon, a top official with Civil Aviation, told reporters.
Civil Aviation said the plane was owned by Kalitta Air and "operated in Colombia by the company Centurion," which is also from the United States.
Kalitta Air spokesman Pete Sinderland confirmed that the company owned the plane.
"The aircraft is a Boeing 747 leaving from Bogota to Miami carrying flowers," Sinderland told AFP. "We do not have the cause of the crash."
