A tourist plane crashed Saturday in southern Peru, killing 11 tourists and 2 crew members. The crew of the Aerodiana plane reported a mechanical problem in flight before radio contact was lost, according to Peruvian Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Rogers Valencia.

Crash Details

The plane was carrying tourists on a sightseeing tour of the Nazca Lines, a collection of thousand year-old geoglyphs etched into the desert floor. The ministry said the pilots notified the control tower at Nazca airfield of the emergency, after which radio contact was lost.

Those aboard included tourists from Spain, Italy, and Germany, as well as the two Peruvian crew members. The Italian and German consuls were at the scene, and the Italian Foreign Ministry said its embassy in Lima was in contact with Peruvian authorities.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but authorities have not said whether the reported mechanical problem caused the crash. The Aviation Accident Investigation Commission is analyzing the call, the plane’s flight path, along with mechanical evidence from the wreckage.

Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.