On August 1, 2026, a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan operated by Peruvian sightseeing company Aerodiana crashed during an overflight of the Nazca Lines in southern Peru. The turboprop aircraft carried registration OB-2001P and had departed Capitán FAP Renán Elías Olivera Airport in Pisco at approximately 12:10 PM local time for a scheduled scenic route over the UNESCO World Heritage site.
Around 1:00 PM local time, while operating near the town of Socos roughly four miles from the city of Nazca, the flight crew declared an in-flight emergency. Shortly after transmitting the alert, radio contact was lost and the aircraft crashed into farmland in Pueblo Viejo near the Vista Alegre district, bursting into intense flames upon impact. Emergency response teams arriving at the crash site confirmed that all 13 occupants aboard—consisting of 11 foreign tourists and two Peruvian crew members—were killed.
Peru’s Ministry of Transport and Communications and local authorities identified the victims as pilot Américo Salazar Cuellar, co-pilot Irenka Guanilo del Carpio, seven tourists from Italy, two from Germany, and two from Spain. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Peru’s Aviation Accident Investigation Commission launched a formal investigation to determine the exact technical or environmental factors that caused the crash.
All photos by the airline.
The airline isssued this statement:
