Date: 27 November 1989

Location: Bogota, Columbia

Type of event: terrorism

Description:

A bomb exploded aboard a Colombian Avianca Boeing 727 passenger jet departing Bogota, Columbia, en route to Cali, at 7:16. Exploding 5 minutes after takeoff in a passenger seat, the bomb ignited fuel vapors and caused the plane to crash, killing all 107 aboard as well as 3 on the ground. The bomb was planted by members of the Medellin drug cartel, led by Pablo Escobar who was charged by the U.S. in August 1992. The bomb may have been supplied by Islamic terrorists, based on similarities to the one that destroyed Pam American Flight 103. Five passengers were informants who had been targeted by the drug cartel. Two Americans were among those killed.

Consequences: 110 killed, ? injured

References:

• "Accident Database," PlaneCrashInfo.com, on line [http://www.planecrashinfo.com/database.htm].
• Mickolus, Edward F., and Susan L. Simmons, Terrorism, 1992-1995: A Chronology of Events and a Selectively Annotated Bibliography, 1997, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT).

© 2017 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 26 November 2017.
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