Medellin plane crash of 1935

The Medellin plane crash of 1935 was an accident involving two Ford 5-AT-B Trimotor aircraft at Olaya Herrera Airport in Medellín, Colombia on June 24, 1935, killing all but 3 of the 20 people involved.

Among the dead were Argentine tango singer Carlos Gardel, and the co-author of the majority of his songs, Alfredo Le Pera, and one his guitarists, Guillermo Barbieri.

Background
Cardel was tired from an endless tour of Puerto Rico, Aruba, Curaçao and Venezuela. He had already accumulated more than 60 performances since April 1, and there were still some dates left in Colombia, the debut in Havana and Mexico to return, without vacation, to New York to film a couple of films, to go look for his beloved mother to Toulouse and from there to return.

The delegation had gotten off the plane that came from Bogotá to make a brief stopover to Cali, where five thousand people were waiting for him that night who had eagerly paid for their tickets to see him at the Isaacs Theater.

Crew
The first aircraft (F-31) was under the command of Captain Ernesto Samper Mendoza (Great-uncle of Colombian President Ernesto Samper) and a First Officer. While the second plane consisted of Captain Hans Ulrich Thom and First Officer Hartmann Fuerst.

Accident
The SACO F-31 plane was scheduled to take off from Olaya Herrera Airport in Medellín, Colombia at 2:51 pm on June 24, 1935, on a scheduled flight to Bogotá, Colombia, carrying 2 crew and 11 passengers including famous Argentine singer Carlos Gardel and his entourage. F-31 started accelerating down the runway, when it suddenly started to swerve before losing control.

It veered off the runway and collided with a taxiing aircraft (C-31, nicknamed Manizales), an explosion followed which engulfed both planes in flames. All passengers and crew on the taxiing C-31 were killed in the accident, while only 3 aboard F-31 survived with various injuries. Carlos Gardel was killed in the crash.

Aircraft
The Ford 5-AT-B Trimotors involved were built in 1928 and 1932 respectively. The aircraft were in use of Servicio Aéreo Colombiano - SACO and SCADTA at the time of the accident.

Aftermath
Both aircraft were destroyed in the accident, while all but three of the 20 occupants of the flights were killed. An investigation of the accident revealed that the SACO F-31 flight lost control following strong lateral winds in combination with irregularities in the surface of the runway, that led the left main gear to leave the ground before rotation.

A funeral procession was held for Gardel in Buenos Aires while a memorial was erected for him at the airport. The last survivor of the disaster Josep Plaja Gasch Joe, died on September 11, 1982.