What happened
On October 17, 2008, a Cessna 402C, registration XC-HAQ, departed from Runway 02 at Del Norte Airport (MMAN) near Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The aircraft, operated by the government of Baja California Sur, was performing a cross-country flight to La Paz, Baja Los Cabos, Mexico, under visual flight rules.
At 1308 CDT, the aircraft began its departure. While climbing toward a requested cruise altitude of 12,500 feet, radar contact with the aircraft was lost at 1315. Following a search, the aircraft was located at approximately 1820 in a mountainous area near the village of Garcia, Nuevo Leon.
The aircraft had impacted a vertical face on Cerro Del Fraile Mountain at an altitude of approximately 5,700 feet Mean Sea Level. The impact occurred roughly 11 nautical miles from the departure point on a magnetic heading of 254 degrees. The pilot, copilot, and one passenger were 3 fatal.
At the time of the accident, weather conditions included a broken ceiling at 3,000 feet, with visibility of 12 statute miles and winds from 330 degrees at 6 knots.