Tourist plane crashes near Nazca Lines in Peru, all 13 on board killed

A small aircraft carrying tourists to view Peru's Nazca Lines archaeological site crashed Saturday afternoon with no survivors, according to BBC reporting. The Cessna Caravan C-208, operated by Peruvian airline Aerodiana, went down around 13:00 local time in the Pueblo Viejo region after departing from an airport in Pisco. All 11 passengers and two pilots on board were killed.

The passengers included two German tourists, two Spanish tourists, and seven Italian tourists, per reporting from Peru's state news agency cited by BBC. Police Major Jorge Andrade told AFP, as reported by BBC, that four bodies had been recovered at the time of the initial statement, adding, "Given the severity of the accident, there are no survivors."

Aerodiana said in a statement, according to Reuters reporting cited by BBC, that it would "assess its flight schedule in accordance with the directives of the relevant authorities." The cause of the crash has not been determined.

Tourists regularly fly in small aircraft over the Nazca Lines, a UNESCO World Heritage site in southern Peru featuring ancient drawings of animals etched into the desert sand, to view the extent of the artwork from above. The site has been the location of previous fatal aviation incidents: in 2022, another small tourist plane crashed during a flight over the site, killing seven people on board, per BBC reporting. In 2010, a tourist plane went down over the Nazca Lines, killing six people, according to the same source.

Recovery efforts were ongoing at the time of initial reports, with four of the 13 bodies recovered. The investigation into the cause of the crash has not yet begun in earnest.