Peruvian Air Force Mi-17 helicopter crash kills 15 near Chala, seven minors among dead on disaster-response flight to Arequipa, aircraft lost contact before tracker showed fixed position

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bnonews.com

A Peruvian Air Force Mi-17 helicopter crashed near the coastal town of Chala in southern Peru, killing all 15 people on board, including seven minors aged 3 to 17. BNO News reports the aircraft lost contact on Sunday while flying from Lima toward Arequipa, with its last radio transmission near Chala before tracking data showed a fixed position close to the village of Chala Vieja.

Ground patrols reached the mountainous crash site overnight, locating the wreckage early Monday. Air Force operations commander Lt. Gen. Gregorio César Mendiola Lomparte said there were no survivors. The dead include four crew members and 11 passengers—four adult civilians and the seven children.

The flight was part of disaster-response logistics in the Arequipa region, where flooding and landslides have disrupted the Pan-American Highway, according to BNO News. Officials said it is standard practice for authorised civilians to travel on logistical transport flights supporting emergency operations. That detail is routine in emergencies, but it also concentrates risk: when the same institution is both the emergency carrier and the emergency manager, capacity limits and safety margins are tested at the worst time.

The Air Force said the helicopter underwent a major inspection in November 2024 and had flown 287 hours since then, with the next major inspection scheduled for 2031. An accident investigation board has been activated. For now, Peru’s disaster response has lost a helicopter, a crew, and a group of civilians it was moving through a region already cut by floods.

The crash site was found after the aircraft’s tracker stopped moving east of Chala; recovery teams arrived to confirm what the signal already implied.