A small plane carrying seven passengers has crashed in Peru, killing everyone on board
LIMA: Five tourists and two crew members were killed on Friday when they crashed while traveling to see Peru's famed Nazca Line. The Ministry of Transport gave this information.
A Cessna 207 single-engine aircraft belonging to the Aerocentos tourism company came down shortly after takeoff from the small airport of Maria Reich in Nazca, a statement said.
None of the seven people on board the plane survived, which a diplomatic source told AFP included two tourists from Chile.
Dozens of aircraft operate from Maria Reich airfield, flying tourists – mainly foreign – over the Nazca Lines, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
According to UNESCO, the lines were dug into the desert floor 220 miles (350 kilometers) south of Lima between 500 BC and 500 AD, and depict animals, plants, imaginary creatures and geometric figures several kilometers long.
They are believed to have had ritual astronomical function or functioned as a calendar. Most are visible only from the sky.
In October 2010, four British tourists and two Peruvian crew members were killed when an Airnasca plane crashed on the lines.