OTD in 1995, HK-3839X, a Intercontinental de Aviación McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14, under Flight 256, which was named “ City of Mexico City “, crashed during its approach to Cartagena Airport in Colombia. It killed all but a nine-year old girl out of the 51 people on board, with only minor injuries.

The flight was scheduled to depart at 12:10 but was delayed due to a failure on the previous flight. The flight eventually departed at 18:45. The aircraft climbed to flight level (FL) 310 (31,000 ft (9,400 m)) at 19:09.

During the approach to Cartagena, the air traffic control center in Barranquilla cleared flight 256 to descend to FL 140 (14,000 ft (4,300 m)) and report when passing FL 200 (20,000 ft (6,100 m)) at 19:26. The aircraft passed through FL 200 at 19:33. The last radio contact occurred when the flight was cleared further down to 8,000 ft (2,400 m).

At 19:38, the crew of Aerocorales flight 209, operated by a Cessna Caravan aircraft, contacted the controllers. The crew reported that they had seen the lights of a rapidly descending aircraft, followed by an explosion on the ground. The plane impacted with the ground in a marshy lagoon near María La Baja, 56 km (35 mi; 30 nmi) from Cartagena Airport. The plane exploded on impact and broke into three parts. 51 people were killed: 46 out of the 47 passengers and all 5 crew members.

The sole survivor of the crash was a nine-year-old girl named Erika Delgado. She was flying with her parents and younger brother, who were killed in the crash. The girl's injuries were just a few bumps and bruises, most serious being a broken arm. She stated that her mother survived the initial impact and pushed her aside into a vegetable pile to shield her away from the fire. The girl was found by one of the local residents who came running to the rescue. She explained that there was looting at the crash site and that one of the looters stole a necklace which was given to her by her father. The looting was later confirmed, and the girl asked that the necklace be returned to her, but this was unsuccessful.