Tourist Plane Crashes Near Famous Nazca Lines, 6 Killed

LIMA, Peru — A small plane carrying British tourists crashed near the famed Nazca Lines in Peru on Saturday, killing all six people on board, police said.

The victims were listed as four Britons – three men and a woman – and the pilot and co-pilot, both Peruvian.

The Cessna plane apparently had engine trouble that led it to crash in a field, Nazca police chief Alfredo Coronel said. Police were working to recover the bodies.

An official who answered the phone at the British Embassy in Lima declined to comment without authorization from London.

The Nazca Lines, mysterious geoglyphs etched into the desert centuries ago by indigenous groups, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Peru's leading tourist attractions.

Located about 240 miles (385 kilometers) southeast of Lima, the glyphs are only fully recognizable from the air, and 30-minute overflights are popular with travelers.

However there have been allegations of lax supervision of the several-dozen aging planes that make the flights.

In February, a Cessna 206 carrying three Chileans and four Peruvians over the lines crashed and killed everyone on board.

Another crash in April 2008 killed five French tourists, though their pilot survived.

Comments

[Pileated1]

09:05 AM on 10/04/2010

Maybe a tethered hot air balloon would be a safer way to take a look.

[Rattlecan]

11:43 PM on 10/03/2010

That's the tail of a Cessna 185 which is only built to carry four people. Although 185's have 300 horse power engines, six people would be overloaded. It looks like it stalled and came down hard.
I went there and we flew over the desert in a 172. the lines are really intriguing.

[ie]

07:12 PM on 10/03/2010

Sad. Condolences to the familes.
As turboprop pilot said, probably pilot error.

Or shot down by aliens.

[Turbo-prop Pilot]

02:36 PM on 10/03/2010

Pilot error no doubt. That whole area is one big flat barren landing field. Even if the engine failure occurred at the most critical time for a single engine plane ( right after takeoff) you could land uneventfully straight ahead at that airport. I'm willing to bet the pilot certification standards are a joke in Peru.