LANSA Flight 501
Lockheed L-749A Constellation · Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error
From Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM) to Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 49 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 49
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Lockheed L-749A Constellation
- Aircraft type
- Lockheed L-749
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- OB-R-771
- Operator
- Lansa
- Onboard fatalities
- 49
- Route
- From Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM)To Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
- Personnel issues › Task performance
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
- Personnel issues › Physical
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
LANSA Flight 501 was a domestic flight from Lima to Cusco operated by a Lockheed L-749 Constellation aircraft registration OB-R-771. On 27 April 1966, Flight 501 crashed into a mountain side in Tomas District, killing all 49 on board.
Crash
Flight 501 departed Lima at 7:40am PET, 10 minutes later than schedule, from runway 15 and was instructed to climb at a heading of 190° until it was 9 nautical miles southwest of the airport, after which it turned towards heading 120°.
At 7:57am PET, the crew reported their position to the airport at Lima and stated "Departed Lima- Callao at 1240Z, climbing, estimating Ayacucho at 1337Z." Shortly just after 8:00am, eyewitnesses reported a low-flying plane over the village of San Pedro de Pilas, with one of them testifying they could read the "LANSA" inscription on the aircraft. Locals had determined Flight 501 was trying to fly towards the mountain range below the peaks.
It is estimated that Flight 501 struck Mount Talaula around 8:05am PET, with the wreckage being recovered the next day. All 49 occupants (which included at least 4 Americans, 2 Swiss, 1 Canadian, 3 Germans and 1 Spaniard) died in the crash and the aircraft was destroyed by fire.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
Subsequent investigations were conducted to determine the cause.
The crew were properly certified though the pilot-in-command was selected for the flight at the last minute. Since he had completed the previous day's duties late, it was assumed he had a rest period of only 6½ hours.
The aircraft was still airworthy and the gross weight at takeoff did not exceed limits. The maintenance log had revealed that some aircraft parts were operating beyond their operating lifetime.
The weather was reported as clear with no fog.
Communications between Flight 501 and the control tower at Lima were normal.
LANSA's flight plan for the Lima-Cuzco route instructed pilots to climb at a heading of 190° until it was 9 nautical miles southwest of the airport, after which it turned towards heading 120° at a straight course towards Ayacucho and then Cuzco.
The aircraft was seen flying over the village of San Pedro de Pilas at a heading of 100° and then turning left to avoid the mountain which was higher than the aircraft.
The wreckage was found 5 nm northeast of the village, and 29 nm north of the planned route.
No evidence of pre-impact malfunctions were found.
It was concluded that the pilot decided to fly a straight route from Las Palmas to Cusco, and was unable to clear the summits due to insufficient climb performance.
Probable cause
Investigations determined the crash to be caused by pilot error, with several assumptions made:
The crew violated the planned route regulations provided by the airline.
The climb performance was incorrectly calculated in relation to its total weight at takeoff, meaning it may not have been able to climb to the required height to clear the high mountains within 25 minutes of flight time.
The elevation of the peaks needed to be cleared were incorrectly calculated.
The captain may have overestimated the aircraft's technical abilities. His judgement may had been impaired by the lack of rest and pre-flight preparation. Good weather conditions may had influenced him to choose the direct manner of flight.
There was no evidence of a failure on the aircraft before the crash.
Text from the Wikipedia article “LANSA Flight 501” (revision 1347706310, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: LANSA Flight 501
- Article
- LANSA Flight 501
- Revision
- 1347706310 · 2026-04-08 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q6457040
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "LANSA Flight 501" (page 38001282, revision 1347706310)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- flight number in the article title
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.