Tourist Plane Crashes During Nazca Lines Flight, Killing 13

A sightseeing flight over Peru’s world-famous Nazca Lines ended in tragedy after a tourist aircraft crashed on Friday, killing all 13 people on board.

The aircraft was conducting a scenic flight over the UNESCO World Heritage Site when it came down near the city of Nazca in southern Peru. According to local authorities, the victims included tourists and crew members, with no survivors reported.

Emergency services rushed to the crash site, but the impact and resulting fire left little chance of survival. Officials have since secured the area while investigators begin examining the wreckage to determine what caused the accident.

The Nazca Lines are among Peru’s most popular tourist attractions, drawing thousands of visitors each year. The enormous geoglyphs, etched into the desert more than 1,500 years ago, are best viewed from the air, making sightseeing flights a key part of the region’s tourism industry.

Peru’s Ministry of Transport and Communications, together with the country’s aviation accident investigation authorities, has launched a formal investigation. Investigators are expected to examine the aircraft’s maintenance history, weather conditions, pilot communications and flight data to establish the sequence of events leading up to the crash.

The identities and nationalities of the victims have not yet been officially released as authorities work to notify their families.

The accident is one of the deadliest involving a tourist sightseeing flight in Peru in recent years and has renewed attention on the safety of aerial tourism operations around the iconic Nazca Lines.

Authorities have pledged a thorough investigation, with a preliminary report expected in the coming weeks.