Incident Overview
On November 14, 2011, a Cessna 150 aircraft crashed into the Virón Alto sector at an elevation of 4,062 feet. The accident resulted in the total destruction of the airframe and the fatalities of both occupants: the pilot-in-command and one passenger. The crash occurred during the return leg of a flight that had originated in Guayaquil, stopped in Santa Rosa, and was en route back to Guayaquil.
Flight Operations and Communications
The pilot filed an instrument flight plan for the Santa Rosa to Guayaquil segment, intending to climb to Flight Level 040 (4,000 feet) and proceed via airway G675 to the Guayaquil VOR. At 20:05 UTC, the pilot contacted Santa Rosa Tower to request engine start clearance. The controller issued taxi instructions for Runway 07 and later authorized takeoff at 20:13 UTC.
After takeoff, the pilot reported crossing the Machala VOR at 20:26 UTC. This was the final communication received by air traffic control before the aircraft disappeared from radar and crashed into the mountainous terrain south-west of the airport.
Aircraft and Personnel Details
The aircraft, a Cessna A-150-L manufactured in 1974 with serial number 1500520, had accumulated 12,834.50 airframe hours at the time of the accident. It was powered by a Continental R-0200A48B engine with 1,762.80 hours of service. The pilot-in-command was a 22-year-old Ecuadorian holding a Commercial Pilot License with single-engine land and instrument ratings. He had logged 385.3 total flight hours, including 49.9 hours in the accident aircraft type.
Maintenance and Weather Conditions
Maintenance records indicated the aircraft was current on its airworthiness certificate and had undergone a 200-hour inspection on November 2, 2011. While several minor discrepancies were noted in the logbook prior to the crash—such as a flap indicator issue and right gear noise—all were reported as corrected or checked OK in subsequent entries.
Meteorological reports from Santa Rosa Airport at the time of the flight indicated visibility of 10 kilometers or more, with scattered clouds at 1,600 feet and broken clouds at 2,300 feet. Although conditions met Visual Flight Rules (VFR) criteria at the airport, witnesses in the crash area reported persistent fog that obscured mountain peaks, a condition noted as common in that region.