MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine private plane falls down on approach to Punta del Este killing two

The Comanche aircraft had departed from San Fernando, north of Buenos Aires.

An Argentine-registered single-engined aircraft fell Sunday in the Sierras de las Ánimas, in the Uruguayan department of Maldonado, near Punta del Este. Both occupants died.

”The flight which was under radar control disappeared from it at 12:43 local time, prompting a search and rescue operation by an Aviocar (Spanish-built twin-engined aircraft) and an Air Force helicopter,” the Uruguayan Air Force (FAU) said through its Twitter account after stating that ”the aircraft had taken off from the San Fernando airport (north of Buenos Aires) and was heading to the Laguna del Sauce (Punta del Este) airport.“

The doomed aircraft was found around 5 pm in the Sierra de las Ánimas and ”when the helicopter descended at the site, it confirmed the death of the two crew members,” the FAU went on.

The Piper PA-24 Comanche aircraft had disappeared from the radar while on approach at Laguna del Sauce airport where he was scheduled to land at 1:30 p.m.

The plane was found in Sierra de las Ánimas, near the Nueva Carrara viewpoint and a few kilometers before the Pan de Azúcar hill, in Piriápolis. The last contact of the control tower was recorded at 12:43 p.m.

FAU sources disclosed the pilot had requested to descend to 1000 feet (about 300 meters), probably due to poor visibility as a consequence of fog or low-altitude clouds.

The deceased were identified as Buenos Aires residents Franco Pamboukdjian Acevedo, 22, and Kevin Alonso Raggio, 27. They were believed to be a flight instructor and a student.

The aircraft registered LV-CVT was owned by Trade SA, a general aviation company. According to Argentine sources, both the company and the flight had the corresponding authorizations. “Everything was in order,” they expressed.