LIMA 2 August 2026 (Agencies) – A small plane carrying tourists has crashed in Peru, killing all 13 people on board, according to local news reports and Peruvian officials.
The aircraft, a Cessna Caravan C-208, had been flying over the Nazca Lines archaeological site when it went down on Saturday. Eleven passengers and two pilots were on board. The passengers included two German, two Spanish and seven Italian tourists, Peru’s state news agency reported. Peru’s Ministry of Commerce and Tourism confirmed the plane was carrying 11 foreign tourists and two crew members.
“Given the severity of the accident, there are no survivors. We have recovered four bodies so far,” Police Major Jorge Andrade said, according to AFP.
The plane belonged to Peruvian sightseeing operator Aerodiana and had departed from Pisco Airport before crashing in the Pueblo Viejo area, approximately 4 miles from the city of Nazca and roughly 7 miles from the Nazca Lines site. Local media reports said the crash site was quickly engulfed in flames, preventing any rescue attempt. Video from Reuters news agency showed firefighters spraying water at the scene as smoke rose from the wreckage. Aerodiana said in a statement it extended its condolences to the families of those who died and was cooperating with the investigation.
The cause of the crash has not yet been determined, and local authorities said they will investigate. Flights over the Nazca Lines departing from the nearby María Reiche Airport had been suspended the day before, on Friday, due to winds exceeding 25 mph that kicked up dust and reduced visibility, forcing at least one other small aircraft to divert. Whether conditions had improved by Saturday or played any role in the crash has not been confirmed.
President Keiko Fujimori expressed regret over the accident and said a temporary suspension of the airport was being considered, pending reports from the relevant ministries.
The Nazca Lines is a popular tourist attraction and UNESCO World Heritage site in southern Peru featuring ancient drawings of animals etched into the desert floor, which are only fully recognisable from the air. The site draws roughly 100,000 visitors a year, part of the more than 4.1 million tourists who visited Peru in 2025, according to the country’s tourism ministry. Tourists typically view the drawings on short sightseeing flights aboard small aircraft.
Saturday’s crash adds to a troubled safety record for Nazca sightseeing flights. In February 2022, a Cessna 207 crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 5 tourists and 2 crew. In 2010, an AirNasca aircraft crashed over the lines, killing 4 British tourists and 2 Peruvian crew, and in 2008 a crash killed 5 French tourists after their plane became caught in high-tension cables, though the pilot survived. Older reporting on the flights has also noted allegations of lax oversight of the ageing fleet of small aircraft that operate the routes.