Incident Details
On March 9, 1996, a De Havilland DHC-6-200 aircraft, registration N245GW, crashed at an undetermined time near the Cenepa River area over dense Amazon jungle. It was operating under 14 CFR Part 91 as an aerial geological survey flight for Carson Services Inc., which had leased the aircraft from Air Associates Inc. Visual meteorological conditions were reported at the departure airport, Bagua, Peru, from where the flight departed at about 0617 mountain daylight time. No flight plan was filed.
Aircraft and Crew
The airplane is missing and presumed destroyed. The occupants—the American pilot-in-command, an American survey operator, and a Peruvian Air Force observer—are missing and presumed to have suffered fatal injuries.
Communications and Search Efforts
No known recorded radio communications with N245GW exist. The aircraft did not return to Bagua. Search and rescue operations have been uneventful.
Official Statements
Officials from the Director General of Civil Aviation stated that the flight was conducting an aerial geological survey in the Cenepa River area, near the disputed border with Ecuador.