OPA-LOCKA, Fla. — Volunteers packed about 3,000 pounds of aid into a Bombardier Learjet 60 on Thursday in Miami-Dade County, hoping to help first responders in search of earthquake survivors in Colombia.
The mid-size twin-jet took off at 5:45 p.m. from the Opa-locka Executive Airport to land at 8 p.m. at the Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in Palmira, according to FlightAware.
“It’s going to be only for rescue teams” in Cali, said Ender Urdaneta, of the Help Land Foundation, a Miami-based nonprofit founded after Hurricane Dorian in 2019.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck on Monday morning in western Colombia. Jose Ecarri, of the Miami Pilots Association, said he was grateful to have been able to borrow the jet.
“I used to fly this plane. I am a pilot too, and I got in contact with the owner,” Ecarri said. “The owner is Colombian, and I told him, ‘Hey, I need a plane to send help to your country.’”
On Thursday evening, the earthquake’s official death toll was at 273 and climbing. Officials estimated there were 3,824 injured and 40,753 families affected.
Juan Rojas, of Legacy Aviation, was the jet’s pilot, and he planned to return to Miami-Dade on Friday morning.
Related stories
- Death toll rises to 273; 3,284 injured
- Miami Beach opens 4 aid drop-off locations
- Rescuers call for silence around earthquake rubble as window for survival narrows in Colombia
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