Small plane crashes near famed Nazca Lines; 3 Chileans, 4 Peruvians dead

Small plane crashes near Peru’s famed Nazca Lines

LIMA, Peru — A small plane carrying tourists crashed Thursday near the famed ancient geoglyphs known as the Nazca Lines, killing all seven people on board.

The Cessna 206 was carrying three Chileans and four Peruvians, local airport chief Enrique Gamboa said. Nazca Airlines said one of the Peruvians was the pilot.

Police were investigating.

The plane went down inside the tourism zone in the coastal Nazca Desert where, centuries ago, indigenous groups etched mysterious figures in the sand that today are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The aircraft crashed about 150 yards (meters) from a figure known as “the spider” but did not damage it, said Americo Baiocchi, director of the Nazca National Cultural Institute.

The glyphs are only fully recognizable from the air, and overflights are popular with travelers.

In April 2008, a small plane carrying five French tourists crashed en route to the lines. Only their pilot survived.

That accident prompted calls for stricter safety measures, with critics saying there was lax supervision of the several-dozen planes that make the 30-minute flights over the glyphs.