A sightseeing aircraft carrying tourists over Peru’s ancient Nazca Lines went down Aug. 1, 2026, claiming the lives of all 13 people aboard and prompting authorities to immediately ground the airline responsible.
Peruvian officials suspended Aerodiana’s operations on Sunday following the fatal accident in the country’s Ica region. The crash killed 11 European tourists and two Peruvian crew members, leaving no one alive from the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan.
Peru’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications halted all of the company’s flights pending investigation, stating Aerodiana must stay grounded “until investigations are completed to verify the company’s compliance with the applicable aviation regulations, procedures and operating requirements.”
Victims From Italy, Germany and Spain
The fatal passenger manifest included seven Italians ranging in age from 18 to 54, two Spanish nationals both aged 52, and two Germans aged 77 and 78. The two crew members who perished, captain Americo Salazar Cuellar and first officer Irenka Guanilo del Carpio, were both citizens of Peru.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni posted to social media her condolences to the bereaved families “at this time of immense grief.” Italy’s Foreign Ministry confirmed its Lima embassy had coordinated with Peruvian officials and that relatives of the Italian dead had been informed. Both the Italian and German consuls traveled to the disaster scene, according to Peruvian Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Rogers Valencia.
Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori said officials were weighing whether to temporarily close the airport while relevant ministries conduct safety reviews.
Distress Call Cited Mechanical Problems
The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, which holds 12 passengers, took off from Pisco Airport around 1 p.m. local time bound for the Nazca Lines, among Peru’s most popular ancient sites. Contact with the control tower was lost about 1:20 p.m., and the plane came down near Pueblo Viejo, roughly four miles (6 km) from Nazca city and about 12 km from the archaeological attraction itself.
Peruvian Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Rogers Valencia said pilots transmitted a distress message reporting mechanical problems to the Nazca airfield control tower before the aircraft disappeared. That radio call was the final communication authorities received.
Whether the reported mechanical failure directly triggered the disaster remains under investigation. Peru’s Aviation Accident Investigation Commission is analyzing the emergency transmission, the aircraft’s trajectory and wreckage evidence. Valencia stated at the site that examination of debris would yield detailed insight into the cause, with results anticipated soon.
Police Major Jorge Andrade told reporters on scene that all 13 aboard perished and described the difficult conditions confronting emergency personnel. Flames spread quickly through the wreckage in the desert, forcing firefighters and police to navigate smoldering debris. The rapid fire left no opportunity for rescues.
A UNESCO Site and a Dangerous Industry
The Nazca Lines, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, consist of vast ancient geoglyphs carved into southern Peru’s desert between AD 200 and 700. The enormous designs — showing animals such as monkeys, hummingbirds, cats and whales, plus geometric shapes stretching several kilometers — cannot be seen clearly from ground level and require aerial viewing. UNESCO calls the markings among archaeology’s greatest enigmas due to their quantity, nature, size and continuity.
This need for airborne sightseeing has fueled a thriving but hazardous small-plane industry. Saturday’s tragedy marks the latest in a series of deadly crashes. A 2022 accident killed seven, including two Chileans and three Dutch citizens. In October 2010, an AirNasca plane carrying British tourists and Peruvian crew crashed after viewing the lines, with no survivors. Earlier that same year, seven people — three Chileans and four Peruvians — died when a Cessna 206 went down in the area. In April 2008, five French tourists perished in another overflight disaster, though the pilot lived.
Operator Pledges Full Cooperation
Aerodiana, which has flown tourists over the Nazca Lines for 18 years, released a statement saying the accident had profoundly impacted the company. The airline pledged complete cooperation with investigators and emphasized its unwavering commitment to passenger and crew safety throughout its operational history.
Peru welcomed more than 4.1 million international visitors in 2025, drawn to landmarks like Machu Picchu’s Incan ruins and the Nazca Lines. The nation’s population stands just under 35 million. The string of fatal accidents near the geoglyphs has prompted repeated worry about safety standards governing small aircraft companies serving the site, and Saturday’s disaster will likely amplify demands for stricter regulation as investigators seek answers.