Heliandes is an airline

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 based in Medellín

Medellín

Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

. It is a passenger and freight charter airline specialising in fixed wing and helicopter operations. Its main base is Olaya Herrera Airport, Medellín.

Incidents and accidents

On 16 December 2001 a Heliandes Let L-410 UVP-E aircraft crashed into El Silencio

El Silencio

- Sources :* – World-Gazetteer.com...

 de El Manzanillo mountain shortly after takeoff from Medellín

Medellín

Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...

 on a flight to Quibdó

Quibdó

Quibdó is the capital city of Chocó Department, in western Colombia. The municipality of Quibdó has an area of 3,337.5 km² and a population of 100,000 mainly consisting of Afro Colombians and Zambo Colombians. Quibdo serves a a receptor for those persons affected by the Colombian armed...

. All 14 passengers and 2 crew on board were killed. Poor weather at the time of the crash was reportedly a factor.

Fleet

The Heliandes fleet includes the following aircraft (at March 2007) :

• 1 Let L-410 UVP-E
  L-410
  The Let L-410 Turbolet is a twin-engined short-range transport aircraft, manufactured by the Czech aircraft manufacturer LET, mostly used for passenger transport. Since 1969 more than 1100 airframes have been produced.-Development:...
  
  
• 3 Mil Mi-17
  Mil Mi-8
  The Mil Mi-8 is a medium twin-turbine transport helicopter that can also act as a gunship. The Mi-8 is the world's most-produced helicopter, and is used by over 50 countries. Russia is the largest operator of the Mi-8/Mi-17 helicopter....