Accident
Mexicana de Aviación Flight 704 departed Mexico City at 07:02 local time on 4 June 1969, bound for Monterrey. The flight was routine until the approach phase, when the crew initiated a descent at a vertical speed of 1,500 to 1,600 feet per minute and an airspeed of 250 knots. While approaching Del Norte International Airport, the crew contacted the landing controller to inquire about weather and traffic. The dispatcher reported cloudy conditions with a ceiling of 500 feet, haze, light rain, and no other aircraft in the vicinity. The crew then asked about the operational status of the radio beacon at Ciénega de Flores and was informed it was not functioning due to an electrical power outage. Flight 704 subsequently reported receiving a signal similar to that beacon. The crew then reported the airport in sight and commenced the final approach. No further transmissions were received. The aircraft was found destroyed in the Cerro del Fraile mountain range, and all 79 occupants were killed.
Aircraft
The aircraft involved was a Boeing 727-064, registration XA-SEL (manufacturer's serial number 19256, line number 355). It had its maiden flight on 6 January 1967 and was delivered to Mexicana de Aviación on 17 January 1967, where it was named Azteca de Oro. The aircraft was powered by three Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7B turbofan engines.
Crew and Passengers
The captain was Guillermo García Ramos, a World War II veteran with 15,000 flying hours on commercial aircraft. The first officer was Carlos de Iturbide Magallón, and the flight engineer was Alfonso Navarro Mazzini. Notable passengers on the flight included politician Carlos A. Madrazo, tennis star Rafael Osuna, and architect Jorge González Reyna.
Investigation
The investigating board was unable to determine the reason for the aircraft's deviation from its intended flight path. The final minutes of the cockpit voice recorder were missing, and it could not be established which radio beacon the flight crew had reported receiving. The airport's beacon was not operational at the time due to a power outage. The presence of politician Carlos Madrazo on board led to various hypotheses suggesting political assassination.
Conspiracy Theories
Some Mexican media outlets, including Uno TV, have argued that the accident was a premeditated political assassination targeting Madrazo. In an interview with Proceso magazine, writer Patricia Rosas Lopátegui also proposed that the crash was a political assassination.