Portal:Civil Aeronautics Board

“ The evidence disclosed by investigation leaves little doubt that this accident would have been prevented had the pilot followed normal operating procedure. When departing from Arequipa, Peru, for Lima, Peru, company procedure calls for a normal heading of 290° when the flight be made contact or above the overcast. When weather conditions; exist which necessitate a continuance of flight on instruments, company procedure calls for a normal course of 270° until the coast is reached. ”

“ From the appearance of the rocks and the broken portions of the aircraft's right wing tip, it appears that the right wing contacted the mountain first, followed by the violent contact of the propellers and engines, with the complete mass of the aircraft cartwheeling up the mountain and coming to rest in an inverted position at a point approximately 450 feet beyond the point of first impact.
The engine gear assemblies were torn from each engine due to impact with the mountain. ”

“ He remembered crawling away from the flames which, as far as he could recall, were coming from the lefthand side of the fuselage. Mr. Howard remained at the scene with the wreckage until help arrived three days later. ”

“ It left Arequipa at 2:09 p. m. with the proper amount of fuel, and, at 2:25 p.m., Captain Gardner reported to Arequipa [2] that the flight was "leaving control zone [3] altitude 12,200, climbing on instruments, course 290." This report was made by radio telephone to Arequipa and because of the short range of the radio equipment on the aircraft, the message was not expected to be received at Lima. According to company procedure, the message was forwarded for the records to Lima, via air mail, the following day. ”

“ The aircraft, NC 33645, was currently certificated as airworthy at the time of the accident.
4. The flight crew were physically qualified an held proper and current certifications of competency to perform their duties on the subject flight.
5. Panagra's Trip No. 9 originated at Santiago, Chile, with Lima, Peru, as its destination. It had been cleared in accordance with company procedure from Arequipa to Lima, Peru, and departed at 2:09 p.m. ”