Pubdate: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2003 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Author: Juan Forero PLANE CARRYING U.S. AIDES DOWN IN COLOMBIA BOGOTA, Colombia, Feb. 13 - A United States government plane carrying four Americans and a Colombian crashed today in a region of southern Colombia dominated by rebels, and American officials feared that some of the occupants might have been taken hostage. Search-and-rescue teams quickly found the charred wreckage of the plane, whose pilot had reported engine trouble, but three occupants, the pilot and the co-pilot were nowhere to be seen, American officials said. The single-engine Cessna 208 was traveling from Bogota to the southern province of Caqueta when radio contact was lost some 250 miles south of the Colombian capital, the State Department said. The plane tried to make an emergency landing outside Florencia, the provincial capital when it crashed. At least five Black Hawk helicopters along with search-and-rescue teams were dispatched to the scene from a nearby military base, according to Colombian military officials and American government aides. "When they got there, there were no bodies there, and as you know that is a hotbed of guerrilla activity," said a senior Congressional staff member in Washington who was briefed about the search. "And so what you potentially have there is a kidnapping." Some Colombian government officials insisted late tonight that two bodies had been found at the crash site, but American authorities in Bogota and Washington would not confirm the report. In the 39-year conflict in Colombia, rebels have kidnapped businessmen, reporters and even bird-watchers, but not Americans working for the United States government. Rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the rebel group that operates in the jungle area, issued no statement. Meanwhile, an extensive search by Colombian security forces and American advisors was begun. The exact job of the Americans on the plane remained unclear. A Bush administration official said they were not part of the Drug Enforcement Administration, whose employees often travel to risky zones, or regular embassy employees. "They were in a U.S. government plane," the official said. "They weren't out there fishing." A spokesman at the State Department, Chip Barclay, said the plane had experienced engine trouble, and the pilot had tried to make an emergency landing. "Somewhere during the flight, the engine cut out and they were looking for a place to put down," he said. "I assume it was looking for a flat place to put down, a road or large field." Florencia is near the Tres Esquinas military base, where American Special Forces have trained hundreds of elite antinarcotics troops. The plane went down in a region long controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The rebels have used the region to hide kidnap victims and oversee a thriving trade in coca. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D