What happened
A charter flight departed from the Mérida-Alberto Carnevalli Airport at 15:05 local time, destined for Maracaibo with a scheduled stop in Lagunillas. Shortly after departure, while flying at approximately 7,000 feet near El Callejon Pass, the crew determined that their current path would not allow them to clear the terrain. In an attempt to avoid the pass, the captain executed a 180-degree turn toward Ejido and adjusted the heading to 030 degrees to proceed northeast.
While navigating through cloud cover at an altitude of 13,500 feet, the aircraft collided with the slope of La Culata Peak. The impact resulted in the total destruction of the plane. Search teams located the wreckage several hours after the incident. There were four fatalities among the occupants of the flight.
Findings
The investigation determined that the crash occurred because the pilot was operating the aircraft at an inadequate altitude while flying over terrain that was seemingly unfamiliar to them.