Bolivian Air Force says two crew members missing after C-130 cargo plane crash at El Alto airport, Bolivia.

NEWS:

Bolivia’s Air Force said two members of an eight person crew were still missing Friday night after a C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft suffered a runway excursion at El Alto International Airport, near the capital region, and ended up outside the airport’s perimeter. The aircraft, identified by authorities as a military Hercules with registration FAB-81, had arrived from Santa Cruz and was carrying values destined for the country’s central bank, officials said.

The incident unfolded in El Alto, the high altitude city that sits above La Paz and hosts one of the world’s highest international airports. In initial briefings, defense and Air Force officials said the aircraft skidded during landing and traveled beyond the runway area, entering a zone with civilian traffic. Officials described extensive damage to vehicles in the vicinity of the airport and said emergency teams moved quickly to reach victims and secure the area.

By late Friday, the Air Force commander told the public that six crew members had been located and were receiving medical attention, while search efforts continued for two others. He said information was still being collected and that officials were not yet prepared to provide a full accounting of all casualties at the scene, emphasizing that the priority was rescue and stabilization.

Over the following days, health authorities issued a more complete update on fatalities. Bolivia’s Health Ministry reported that the death toll had risen to 22, including four children, after the crash impacted an area near the airport’s western side. Officials said the deceased were being identified and released to families through a coordinated process involving prosecutors and other agencies, while hospitals in El Alto and nearby areas continued treating the injured.

Authorities also addressed a separate, unusual element of the crash, the cargo of newly printed banknotes that scattered near the wreckage. Bolivia’s central bank stated that certain denominations from a new series were immediately rendered invalid for use and circulation, and it warned the public not to attempt to spend any bills linked to the aircraft’s shipment. The bank said people who legally obtained bills of the same series through ordinary transactions would be able to exchange them through the financial system under a schedule to be announced, while bills tied to the crash shipment could be identified and would trigger legal consequences if someone tried to introduce them into circulation.

Officials said the combination of a large emergency response, unsecured debris and the presence of money at the scene created major challenges for first responders. Security forces were deployed to protect rescue operations and preserve evidence for investigators, with authorities repeatedly urging the public to keep distance from the crash site and to avoid spreading sensitive images online. Videos captured by bystanders circulated widely on social platforms, and officials emphasized the need to respect victims and families while formal identification and notification processes continued.

The government said a formal investigative process had been launched to determine what caused the aircraft to lose control on landing. Military authorities said an accident investigation board would examine operational factors, aircraft condition and maintenance records, crew training and human factors, as well as airport and environmental conditions. Officials also said weather conditions were being reviewed, and initial accounts from the Air Force referenced hail in the area around the time of landing.

A key development came Saturday, when the Defense Ministry announced the recovery of the cockpit voice recorder, commonly referred to as the black box. Officials said the device continuously records cockpit conversations along with sounds and alerts, providing investigators a critical window into the final phase of the flight. The ministry said the recorder would undergo specialized forensic analysis in a certified laboratory so investigators could extract and interpret the data safely, a process that can take weeks and, in complex cases, much longer.

A runway excursion is a known category of aviation incident, one that safety investigators worldwide track closely because it can occur even when an aircraft remains mechanically intact. In many cases, the outcome depends on a narrow margin of speed, braking effectiveness, runway surface conditions and crosswinds, and whether there is sufficient safety area beyond the runway to stop an aircraft that cannot decelerate normally. When a runway excursion carries an aircraft beyond the perimeter and into areas with roads or dense development, the risk shifts dramatically toward high casualties, even if everyone on board survives the initial loss of control.

El Alto’s airport environment adds its own complexity. High altitude airports affect aircraft performance and require careful planning for approach and landing. Engines and aerodynamic surfaces behave differently in thinner air, and braking and stopping margins can be more sensitive to temperature and surface conditions. These factors do not, by themselves, explain a crash, but they are routinely considered in professional accident reconstruction, especially when investigators are trying to determine whether a sequence of minor disadvantages, weather, runway friction and operational decisions combined into a single, catastrophic outcome.

For the communities around the airport, the crash has raised renewed questions about land use and road exposure near critical aviation infrastructure. Investigators typically look not only at what happened on the runway, but also at how the airport perimeter and surrounding environment influenced the severity of the event. Separating high speed aircraft operations from busy surface traffic is a foundational safety principle, but many airports operate in growing urban areas where highways and neighborhoods press close to the fence line.

Officials have said they will continue providing updates as the investigation proceeds and as the status of missing crew members is clarified. For now, authorities are asking the public to follow official guidance, avoid circulating sensitive imagery, and cooperate with ongoing efforts to account for victims, support survivors, and establish, with evidence, what caused the Hercules to leave the runway in the first place.

News story written by Tifa Winters.

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