BOGOTA – Seven airmen and six National Police officers were killed when an air force helicopter crashed outside Sabanagrande, a city in Colombia’s northern Atlantico province, the air force said.

A major and a lieutenant colonel were among those killed in Monday’s crash of the Bell 212 helicopter, the air force said in a statement.

The chopper was carrying personnel “on a transport mission for the planning and development of an operation by the Nudo Paramillo Task Force,” the air force said.

All those aboard the helicopter were killed, the air force said.

“(My) condolences go out to the families of the heroes of the fatherland who died in this incident,” President Juan Manuel Santos said in a posting on Twitter.

The helicopter was being flown by pilot Maj. Jorge Abel Cardona Garcia and co-pilot 2nd Lt. Hector Alejandro Vega Cuevas.

The helicopter went down around 4:30 p.m. Monday “while it was flying on the Barranquilla-Caucasia route on a transport mission,” the air force said.

A team was sent “to start the corresponding investigation and determine the cause of the accident,” the air force said.

The helicopter was assigned to Air Combat Command No. 3. EFE