A tourist plane on a sightseeing flight over Peru's Nazca Lines crashed into a field near the city of Nazca, killing all 13 people on board, local authorities said. Police in Peru said the dead included 11 foreign tourists and two pilots. The aircraft, a Cessna Grand Caravan, came down in Pueblo Viejo, about four miles from Nazca and roughly 12 kilometres from the Nazca Lines.
The accident happened on Saturday after the plane had taken off from the nearby city of Pisco on a trip to view the Nazca Lines, according to officials. Local authorities in Nazca confirmed the death toll and said the aircraft crashed in Pueblo Viejo, around 6km from the city. The crash site is in open country close to Nazca, a town that serves as a base for many of the region's tourist flights.
Among the tourists killed were visitors from Germany, Italy and Spain, according to the authorities. The airline operating the flight, Aerodiana, extended its heartfelt condolences to the families of those who died. Police said all 13 people on board, including the two pilots, were killed and no survivors were found. The nationality of the two pilots has not been disclosed.
The Nazca Lines are among Peru's best-known cultural landmarks and one of South America's most famous pre-Columbian sites. The enormous drawings, which include animals, plants and geometric shapes, were etched into the desert floor centuries ago and are best seen from the air. They cover a large expanse of desert in southern Peru and were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, drawing visitors from around the world. Many of those visitors take small aircraft flights over the lines, and Pisco and Nazca both serve as departure points for those trips.
The crash occurred in Pueblo Viejo, approximately 6km from the centre of Nazca and about 12km from the Nazca Lines. The plane came down in a field after what officials described as a sightseeing flight over the area. It had left Pisco, which is frequently used by operators running tours of the Nazca Lines. No cause for the accident has been announced so far.
The Cessna Grand Caravan is a single-engine turboprop commonly used for passenger and tourist services in the region. The aircraft was carrying 13 people when it went down, and none of them survived. The authorities have not yet released the names of those killed, and the circumstances of the accident are still being established.
