At least 13 dead as tourist plane crashes during flight over Peru’s Nazca Lines

Thirteen people lost their lives on Saturday when a small tourist aircraft crashed near the ancient Nazca Lines archaeological site in southern Peru. Police and transport officials confirmed that there were no survivors among the 11 foreign passengers and two crew members on board. The victims included seven Italian nationals, two Germans, and two Spaniards, according to local radio reports, alongside the local flight crew. Peru's Ministry of Transport stated that the Cessna Caravan C-208, operated by regional airline Aerodiana, had departed from Pisco Airport at approximately 12:10 local time for a routine sightseeing excursion.

Roughly an hour into the flight, the crew radioed an emergency call to the control tower at Nazca Airport before all communication was severed. The aircraft went down in the area of Socos, situated about six kilometres from the city of Nazca and roughly 19 kilometres away from the sprawling geoglyphs. Municipal officials in Vista Alegre indicated that preliminary observations pointed to an in-flight emergency, while local witnesses reported that the aircraft exploded upon impact. The resulting fire completely engulfed the wreckage, rendering rescue efforts impossible and leaving emergency responders to recover four bodies during initial operations.

The disaster highlights the intrinsic hazards tied to the region's heavy aerial tourism industry. The Nazca Lines—enormous geometric figures and animal outlines etched into the arid desert plains between 500 BC and 500 AD—attract approximately 100,000 visitors annually who rely on small aircraft to view the UNESCO World Heritage site from above. Dozens of light planes operate daily from regional hubs like Pisco to service this demand, though safety has long remained a pressing concern. Previous tragedies include a 2022 crash that claimed seven lives and a 2010 accident that killed six people.

Operations in the area face frequent environmental challenges. Just a day prior to the disaster, regional flights departing from Maria Reiche Airport were grounded due to powerful winds exceeding 40 kilometres per hour, which kicked up dense dust and severely restricted visibility, forcing multiple sightseeing aircraft to divert. While Aerodiana announced it would review its flight schedules following directives from authorities, Peru's civil aviation authority has launched a formal investigation to determine the exact sequence of events leading up to Saturday's fatal emergency.