SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- A plane carrying three U.S. military contractors freed from Columbian rebels has landed on at a San Antonio airport.

The plane touched down at Lackland Air Force Base shortly after midnight Wednesday. The U.S. Embassy in Bogota said the men, who worked for Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp., were the longest-held American hostages in the world.

Officals said the three would be flown via Blackhawk helicopters to the Brooke Army Medical Center, TV station KSAT reported.

Americans Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell were captured in 2003 when their drug surveillance plane went down. They worked for Northrup Grumman as Pentagon contractors.

Ingrid Betancourt is also back in Bogota, six years after she was kidnapped by the leftist rebels.

Betancourt wore military fatigues and a floppy camouflage hat as she stepped slowly down the stairs of a military plane Wednesday. She held her mother in a long embrace, a smile stretched across her face.

Betancourt hugged her husband Juan Carlos LeCompte and others, then took the hand of Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos.

Earlier, Betancourt told Colombian army radio that the military operation that freed her was "absolutely impeccable" and took her completely by surprise.

Colombia's defense minister said military spies tricked rebels into giving up their long-held hostages without a single injury.

The military freed French-Colombian politician Betancourt, three U.S. military contractors and 11 Colombians from the leftist rebels.

The rescue is the most serious blow ever dealt to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. They had considered Betancourt and the three Americans their most valuable bargaining chips.

The defense minister said military intelligence agents infiltrated the guerrilla ranks and led them to believe the hostages would be flown to the guerrillas' supreme leader. Instead, the hostages were taken to a military base.

Since their abduction, the hostage's families have received only two "proof of life" videos, the latest in November.

Betancourt Still Aspires For Presidency

Betancourt said she still aspires "to serve Colombia as president."

Betancourt said she believes President Alvaro Uribe's 2006 re-election was "very good for Colombia." She said she saw from her six-year jungle captivity that the military buildup he promoted had great effect in debilitating her rebel captors.

Betancourt was running against Uribe in 2002 when the rebels kidnapped her.

She told a news conference after her rescue Wednesday that Uribe "has been a very good president" but that "I continue to aspire to serve Colombia as president."

For now, she said, "I'm just one more soldier."