LAC (Líneas Aéreas del Caribe) was a Colombian airline that was founded in

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of the Atlántico department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean region of Colombia, Caribbean coast region; as of 2018, it had a popul ...

in 1974.

History

By an initiative of Captain Luís Carlos Donado Velilla, who wanted to withdraw from Aerocosta and set up a new airline only from his family, he was born on February 28, 1974. LAC started as a limited company and Luis's first partners were, his wife María Fajardo de Donado and his two brothers Orlando and Raúl Donado Velilla. Captain Lucho Donado already had experience in the creation and development of airlines, as he had co-founded LATCO, Aerocóndor and Aerocosta. Barranquilla companies in history were good at achieving positioning and leadership in the air passenger and cargo market. The time to start a company alone was very hard to do however given the conditions of focusing almost all your time on the business. In 1972 and despite, being Aerocosta at its best, Captain Luis Carlos Donado (one of the majority shareholders) was tired of non-family members and decided to sell this airline to Floramerica. The new managers of this company did not like the C-46 much and that is how Lucho Donado made a proposal to buy them for a price slightly higher than what they had acquired, but with the condition that they let them operate under the banner of Aerocosta until LAC had the approval of the

Aerocivil The Civil Aviation Authority of Colombia (, also known as ''Aeronáutica Civil'', ''Aerocivil'' or UAEAC) is a government agency of the Colombian Ministry of Transport (Colombia), Ministry of Transport. It is the agency in charge of regulating ci ...

. This was the case and the Donado Velilla brothers flew their two Curtiss planes through the

Eastern Plains The Eastern Plains of Colorado refers to a region of the U.S. state of Colorado east of the Rocky Mountains and east of the population centers of the Front Range. Geography The Eastern Plains are part of the High Plains, which are the weste ...

with the Aerocosta flag, but billing the flights as Donado Velilla Brothers (DOVEL) until February 28, 1974, when they already start operating with the Colombian Aerocivil as

Caribbean Airlines Caribbean Airlines Limited is the state-owned airline and flag carrier of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. Headquartered in Iere House in Piarco, the airline operates flights to the Caribbean, North America and South America from its base at P ...

. The company was born with two Curtiss C-46s which were painted purple and the Barranquilleros nicknamed them "The Bishops." These planes covered national routes between the Atlantic Coast, the Eastern Plains and the Capital of the Republic. In mid-September of the same year 74, the company became closed anonymous and the wives and children of the Donado Velilla brothers were included as partners. Raúl Donado Velilla moved to Bogotá with his family and Carlos Alberto Donado Fajardo (finishing his university studies) is linked to the company in Barranquilla. In August 1974, the company acquired a Douglas DC-6 in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

(Syria) and began international operations to Panama,

Margarita Island Margarita Island (, ) is the largest island in the States of Venezuela, Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, situated off the north west coast of the country, in the Caribbean Sea. The capital city of Nueva Esparta, La Asunción, is located on the ...

and some Caribbean Islands. In the middle of that year, LAC signed an important agreement with the

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),

by means of which Colombian flowers were transported from Bogotá to

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

where they made connections to Amsterdam. At that time the leading freight agencies in the market were Colcarga (today UTI) and Florcarga (today

DHL Global Forwarding DHL Global Forwarding, formerly known as DHL Danzas Air & Ocean, is a division of Deutsche Post DHL providing air and ocean freight forwarding services. It also plans and undertakes major logistics projects under the brand name DHL Industrial P ...

Routes

LAC signed an important contract with '' El Tiempo'' and ''

El Espectador ''El Espectador'' () is a nationally circulated Colombian newspaper founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez in 1887 in Medellín and published since 1915 in Bogotá. It was initially published twice a week, 500 issues each, but some years later became ...

'' to transport the press every night from Bogotá to Barranquilla, Cali and Medellín. In August 1977, LAC sold the Curtiss and renewed its fleet by acquiring four DC-6s in auction in Tucson (Arizona) of which two were operated (HK-1702 and HK-1703) and the rest were scrapped for spare parts. With these two new Douglas DC-6B, the newly approved route to Miami began operating in October with three new weekly frequencies, weekly flights to Panama are increased to three, and the new route to Caracas is opened. In March 1978 the fifth DC-6B arrives and the company restructures its flying routes: *Three weekly frequencies on the Bogota-Barranquilla-Miami route *Three weekly frequencies to Caracas *Four weekly frequencies to Panama *Three weekly frequencies to

*A weekly flight to Pointe-a-Pitre *Six weekly flights Bogota-Cartagena-Barranquilla-Bogota *Six weekly flights Bogota-Medellin-Bogota

Fleet

LAC Colombia consisted of the following fleet:

Accidents and incidents

*On February 4, 1976, a

Douglas DC-6B The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, Douglas reworked it after the war to compete wi ...

(registered HK-1389) crashed into the sea following engine trouble while flying from

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially the Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta (), is a port List of cities in Colombia, city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena Department and the fou ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. All three crew members on board were killed. *On April 29, 1978, a

(registered HK-1705) crashed shortly after takeoff from

El Dorado International Airport El Dorado International Airport is an international airport serving Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, and its surrounding areas. The airport is located mostly in the Fontibón district of Bogotá, although it partially extends into the Engat ...

. All three crew members and five of the nine passengers were killed. The aircraft reportedly failed to gain sufficient height on takeoff from runway 30, as it struck a tree and broke up. *On October 15, 1992, a Douglas DC-8-55F (registered HK-3753X) lost its directional control on landing at

Olaya Herrera Airport Olaya Herrera Airport () is an airport located in Medellín, Colombia, that serves regional and domestic flights. Additionally, the airport is used by general aviation and features several hangars for charters. It was formerly known as ''Medel ...

. It veered off the left side of the runway and subsequently, the nose landing gear collapsed. All three crew members on board survived. *On February 4, 1996, Flight 028, a

Douglas DC-8-55CF The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is an early long-range narrow-body jetliner designed and produced by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. Work began in 1952 towards the United States Air Force's (USAF) requirement for a j ...

(registered HK-3979), flying to

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

lost lift, speed, and fell on a neighborhood in

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

due to the negligence and recklessness of its crew, causing the death of the four crew members on board, as well as 18 people on the ground. This accident practically caused the airline's liquidation a few months later. It became the worst air tragedy in Paraguay.

References

External links