What happened
A charter flight operating from Ciudad Obregón Airport began its journey toward Toluca at 20:01 local time, carrying two pilots and four passengers. Shortly after departure, the crew cancelled the original flight plan and performed a return to the departure airport. Following a second takeoff attempt at 21:18 local time, the crew initiated several further cancellations while attempting to divert to various destinations, including Tepic, Guadalajara, and Puerto Vallarta.
After air traffic control notified the crew that Guadalajara Airport was unavailable for arrivals, the pilots elected to proceed toward Tepic. However, Tepic Airport was also closed to operations at that time. While performing a final approach to the airfield, the aircraft struck the ground approximately 8.3 km before reaching runway 02. The impact resulted in 6 fatalities.
Findings
Investigations into the accident revealed that the crew attempted to conduct a nighttime landing at an airport that was not operational, as its scheduled hours are from 06:00 to 18:00 local time. Additionally, the approach light system at the destination was inactive during the arrival. The primary factor in the crash was that the crew maintained an approach altitude below the minimum safe requirements, leading to the terrain impact.