Police Major Jorge Andrade said 13 people died when a small tourist plane crashed in Pueblo Viejo near the Nazca Lines after departing Pisco on Saturday. The plane lost contact with the control tower minutes after takeoff, and the cause of the crash had not been determined.
Andrade said, "We have information that 11 passengers and two crew members have died" and added, "Given the severity of the accident, there are no survivors. We have recovered four bodies so far." Local authorities in Nazca said the dead were 11 tourists and two pilots.
Jorge Andrade at the crash site
Police said the plane went down in Pueblo Viejo, about 4 miles from the city of Nazca and roughly 12km from the Nazca Lines site. The flight had left Pisco at about 1pm local time for an overflight of the lines, which are a Unesco world heritage site that attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.
The municipality of Nazca said the investigation of the accident and oversight of aviation operations were the responsibility of the competent authorities. Peru’s tourism ministry expressed deep sorrow over the deaths of tourists and crew members.
Nazca Lines overflights
The crash adds to a record of fatal accidents linked to overflights of the Nazca Lines. In April 2008, five French tourists were killed in another crash and the pilot survived. Earlier in 2010, three Chileans and four Peruvians died when a Cessna 206 crashed, and in October 2010 four British tourists and two Peruvian crew members were killed when a small plane operated by AirNasca crashed after flying over the lines.
In 2022, a small plane crash killed seven people, including two Chileans and three Dutch nationals. The latest crash leaves investigators with a basic sequence but no cause: a tourist flight left Pisco, lost contact minutes later and came down near Nazca.
