A sightseeing flight over Peru’s UNESCO-listed Nazca Lines archaeological site crashed on Saturday, August 1, 2026, killing all 13 people on board. The Cessna Caravan operated by Aerodiana went down in the Pueblo Viejo sector near Nazca.
Thirteen people lost their lives in a desert plane crash on Saturday afternoon as a routine tourism flight over southern Peru’s ancient geoglyphs ended in disaster.
Flight Details and Confirmed Fatalities at Pueblo Viejo
The sightseeing aircraft carried 11 passengers and two crew members when it encountered disaster in the Ica region. Local authorities confirmed that the flight lost contact with the control tower shortly after taking off from Pisco at around 1:00 p.m. local time (1800 GMT), crashing into an agricultural field roughly six kilometers from the city of Nazca.
Police Major Jorge Andrade spoke to reporters at the disaster site, confirming the absolute loss of life. Given the severity of the accident, there are no survivors.
State news reports and ministry statements verified the nationalities of the passengers on board, confirming the victims included seven Italian, two German, and two Spanish tourists. The two pilots flying the aircraft were named in local reports as Americo Salazar Cuellar and Irenka Del Carpio.
Emergency Response and the Immediate Aftermath
Footage and images from the scene showed emergency personnel responding to the disaster. Firefighters and municipal police officers rushed to the arid plain, where the aircraft caught fire upon impact, significantly complicating initial rescue and recovery operations.
The municipality of Nazca posted a statement online expressing deep sorrow for the accident and extending heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased. Meanwhile, the operating carrier issued a brief public response regarding its commercial schedule. Aerodiana said it would assess its flight schedule in accordance with the directives of the relevant authorities.
Weather Disruptions Preceding the Saturday Disaster
The fatal crash occurred just a day after regional weather severely disrupted aviation in the area. Sightseeing flights departing from the nearby Maria Reiche Airport had been suspended on July 31 due to strong winds exceeding 40 kph, which kicked up desert dust and severely reduced visibility. Those adverse winds had forced at least two other tourist aircraft to divert to Marcona Airport.
Whether weather played a direct role in Saturday’s crash remains undetermined. Peru’s civil aviation authority has launched a formal investigation into the incident, though no preliminary cause has been publicly announced.
A History of Tragic Accidents Over the UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Nazca Lines draw approximately 100,000 visitors every year to view the massive desert geoglyphs—depicting animals like hummingbirds, monkeys, and whales—which can only be fully appreciated from the air. However, the high volume of low-altitude tourist overflights has a troubled safety history.
- 2022: A small tourist plane crashed during a flight over the geoglyphs, killing seven people, including two Chilean and three Dutch nationals.
- October 2010: An AirNasca plane went down after touring the site, resulting in the deaths of four British tourists and two Peruvian crew members.
- Earlier in 2010: A Cessna 206 crashed, killing three Chileans and four Peruvians.
- April 2008: A separate crash killed five French tourists, though the pilot survived.
Peru introduced tighter regulatory oversight of tourist flight operators following accidents in the 2000s, but flights remain reliant on small aircraft operating under challenging desert conditions. Peru’s civil aviation authority and local investigators continue examining the Pueblo Viejo crash site to determine what caused the Cessna Caravan to go down.
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