What happened
A delivery flight was being conducted to relocate an aircraft from Buenos Aires to a new operator based in Miami. The planned route included stops in Santiago de Chile and Panama City. During the initial leg of the journey toward Santiago, the aircraft was cruising at an altitude of approximately 5,000 meters.
While traversing the airspace near Mendoza, Argentina, the plane collided with the side of Mt Tupungato, a peak reaching an elevation of 6,750 meters. The impact occurred well below the summit of the mountain. Following the crash, the wreckage remained undiscovered for two years until it was located by a Chilean search and rescue unit.
Findings
The collision resulted in the total destruction of the aircraft. There were five fatalities among the occupants on board. The primary factor in the accident was the altitude deficiency relative to the terrain, as the flight path intersected with a mountain slope that exceeded the aircraft's cruising altitude.