On October 2nd, 1996, 70 people, including 9 crewmembers, died when aeroperu flight 603 crashed into the Pacific Ocean. The crash was completely avoidable, the result of a maintenance error. During an evening paint job, a worker taped off rows of sensors but never removed the tape.
Once in the air, the pilots endured loud alarms as the sensors failed to report accurate data. Essentially, they were left to fly blind and were unable to find Lima’s airport. They would crash into the waters off the coast of Ancon, just a few miles away from safety.
A special thanks goes out to the site Transponder1200, a Spanish-language aviation news site which had a great historical post about aeroperu 603.
The accident rocked consumer confidence in the airline. AeroMexico sold of its stake in the company to Delta Airlines. However, the company continued to change hands, until eventually someone got a good enough deal to justify buying it and liquidating its assets.
Because of aeroperu 603, the airline couldn’t get back into the air. At least, not until now.