What happened
While operating approximately 55 nautical miles southeast of La Paz, the aircraft passed the Dakon intersection and received clearance to descend from FL250 to FL180. In an attempt to navigate around adverse weather conditions, the flight path moved away from the assigned route. During this maneuver, at an altitude of 19,600 feet, the aircraft collided with the side of Mt Nevado Illimani, which has an elevation of 6,400 meters. The collision occurred roughly 43 km southeast of runway 28. The impact caused the airframe to break apart, and there were 29 fatalities among the occupants.
Findings
Investigations concluded that the accident was a result of controlled flight into terrain. The crew was operating in conditions of restricted visibility due to nighttime operations and cloud layers reaching altitudes of 9,000 meters. During this period, the crew did not maintain awareness regarding their actual position or altitude relative to the surrounding terrain.