2015 Aruba Challenger 601 crash

Smugglers aircraft shot down near Aruba 2015 Aruba Challenger 601 crash Challenger 601 (293274088).jpg A Challenger 601 similar to the one involved in the crash Shootdown 2015 01 29 Shot down by the Venezuelan Air Force Southeastern coast of Aruba Canadair CL-601 Challenger Dinama Aircorp Inc. N214FW Apure, Venezuela Unknown 3 3 3 0 On January 29, 2015, a Canadair CL-601 Challenger aircraft was shot down while flying over Aruba.Venezuela confirms shooting down small plane near Aruba https://www.reuters.com/article/world/venezuela-confirms-shooting-down-small-plane-near-aruba-idUSKBN0L32CM/ Reuters2015-01-31 Venezuela: Military Says It Downed Plane Near Aruba (Published 2015) The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/world/americas/venezuela-military-says-it-downed-plane-near-aruba.html https://web.archive.org/web/20241226145918/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/world/americas/venezuela-military-says-it-downed-plane-near-aruba.html 2024-12-26 2024-12-29 en Neuman William It crashed on the southeastern coast of the island, killing all 3 people on board.Crash of a Canadair CL-601 Challenger off Aruba: 3 killed Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-canadair-cl-601-challenger-aruba-3-killed 2024-12-29 www.baaa-acro.comRanter Harro Unlawful Interference Canadair CL-600-2A12 Challenger 601 N214FW, Thursday 29 January 2015 https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/320363 Aviation Safety Network The Venezuelan Air Force claimed responsibility for the downing of the jet.2015-01-31 Venezuela confirms shooting down plane near Aruba https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/venezuela-confirms-shooting-down-plane-near-aruba/article6841891.ece 2024-12-29 The Hindu en-IN 0971-751X2015-01-30 Venezuela Confirms Shooting Down Small Civilian Plane Near Aruba https://www.newsweek.com/venezuela-confirms-shooting-down-small-civilian-plane-near-aruba-303473 2024-12-29 Reuters Newsweek en The crash was the deadliest aviation accident or incident in the history of Aruba.Ranter Harro ASN Aviation Safety Database Aruba https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/country/P4 Aviation Safety Network 23 January 2025 Aircraft The downed aircraft was a Canadair CL-601 Challenger (registration number N214FW, serial number 3008).Aircraft Inquiry https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberResult?NNumberTxt=214FW registry.faa.gov It was manufactured in 1983. In July 2013, less than two weeks after the founding of Dinama Aircorp Inc., it was purchased by it and registered at an address in Delaware (USA), where more than 200 more aircraft were registered.Part 1 of 2: Secrets in the sky http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2017/09/part-1-of-2-secrets-in-sky.html?m=1 2024-12-26 en Challenger flew for two Colombian drug kingpins, Dicson Penagos-Casanova and Juan Gabriel Rios Sierra, who joined forces to supply cocaine to some cartels in the United States.Globe The Boston Dowdell Kelly Carr and Jaimi A Boston Globe Spotlight report: Secrets in the sky - Part One https://apps.bostonglobe.com/spotlight/secrets-in-the-sky/series/part-one/ 2024-12-29 BostonGlobe.com en According to the flight tracking service FlightAware, the plane was flying from Florida to Mexico. Almost 3 years after the disaster, the plane was deregistered and written down. Accident On January 29, 2015, the plane took off from the runway in the state of Apure, Venezuela. Information about where the plane was going remains unknown. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said the plane ignored the signals during takeoff. The plane was escorted by military jets of the Venezuelan Air Force.2015-01-30 Plane Crashes Near Aruba After Pursuit by Military Jets (Published 2015) The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/30/world/americas/plane-crashes-near-aruba-after-pursuit-by-military-jets.html https://web.archive.org/web/20230129070432/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/30/world/americas/plane-crashes-near-aruba-after-pursuit-by-military-jets.html 2023-01-29 2024-12-26 en Neuman William According to Vladimir Padrino, the plane disobeyed orders and was "annulled" 25 miles northeast of the Josefa Camejo military base. Eyewitnesses recorded a video of the plane crash: suddenly the plane burst into flames and flew upward for a while until it crashed off the coast of Aruba.January 2025 All 3 people on board were killed. At 6:45 a.m., Aruba police received a call about a plane crash on the southeastern coast of the island. Investigation Aruban officials have begun investigating the crash. Aruban Justice Minister Arthur Dowers demanded that Venezuela confirm whether military jets fired at the plane before it crashed. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino confirmed this information. At the crash site, investigators found 400 packages of drugs, mostly cocaine. Also, the remains of three people were found among the tons of drugs. It turned out that the owner and only official of the airline Dinama Aircorp, which in turn owned the downed aircraft, was Conrad Kulatz, a lawyer from Fort Lauderdale, who in July 2013 (shortly before the founding of Dinama Aircorp), the Florida Bar Association listed as ineligible to practice law because he did not meet the continuing legal education requirement. At the same time, the airline Dinama Aircorp was founded. There were more than 200 aircraft registered at the address where she was registered, including the plane seized by the Dominican Republic. It was Kulatz and another lawyer who registered him with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Kulatz also registered airplanes in the United States, on which traces of drug smuggling were found in 2013. It was discovered that three of them were illegally registered in the United States in the name of a Mexican citizen. Thus, Kulatz deceived the FAA by simply specifying a shopping mall in Texas near the Mexican border as his address and claiming to be a US citizen. At that time, two Colombian drug kingpins, Dicson Penagos-Casanova and Juan Gabriel Rios Sierra, were looking for American planes to supply drugs, as they believed it would be easier for them to "fly under the radar". They rented flight N214FW, which belonged to Dinama Aircorp. To ensure success, they paid the owner of the plane a commission of about 30-35 percent of the cocaine shipment and bribed Venezuelan military and government officials, according to federal court records. In the case of drug smuggling by air, Dixon Penagos-Casanova and Juan Gabriel Rios Sierra were arrested in 2016.2016-10-05 Central District of California Two Colombian Nationals Extradited to Los Angeles on Charges of Leading Multi-Ton Cocaine Conspiracy via Clandestine Air Shipments United States Department of Justice https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/two-colombian-nationals-extradited-los-angeles-charges-leading-multi-ton-cocaine 2024-12-29 www.justice.gov en On June 29, 2020, the District Court of the Central District of California, Penagos-Kasanova was sentenced.United States v. Penagos-Casanova, 2:15-cr-00423 - CourtListener.com https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5932669/united-states-v-penagos-casanova/ 2024-12-29 CourtListener en-usJUDGMENT AND PROBATION/COMMITMENT ORDER - HELD VIA VTC by Judge Dale S. Fischer as to Defendant Dicson Penagos-Casanova. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.624584/gov.uscourts.cacd.624584.181.0.pdf The founder of Dinama Aircorp, Conrad Kulatz, whose plane was involved in transporting cocaine to the United States and Venezuela, was not convicted of offenses in connection with this case, and died in 2021 at the age of 81.Obituary for Conrad Stanley Kulatz at Stephenson-Nelson Funeral Home - Sebring https://www.stephensonnelsonfh.com/obituary/conrad-kulatz 2024-12-29 www.stephensonnelsonfh.com en References Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 2015 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Bombardier Challenger 600 series Category:2015 in Aruba Category:Disasters in Aruba Category:21st-century aircraft shootdown incidents Category:Drugs in Venezuela Category:Drugs in Aruba Category:Drug-related deaths in the Netherlands Category:Military history of Venezuela Category:United States–Venezuela relations Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the Netherlands