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fixes. While proceeding from Arequipa to Lima, at approximately 3:15 p. m., Trip No. 9 struck a mountain peak at an elevation of about 13,000 feet above sea level, caught fire and was completely destroyed.
Search
After the report at 2:54 p.m. Trip No. 9 was never heard from again, although the Panagra ground stations at Lima, Pisco and Arequipa made numerous and almost continuous attempts to establish radio contact. When it became evident that the flight had encountered trouble, Panagra officials were notified and plans were made for a search. Captain Nelson departed from Lima in a DC2 at 4:43 a.m. the morning of January 23. The search was joined by Captain Sterling in a DC3 later the some morning. Cloud conditions made the search difficult, if not useless. However, four Peruvian Army planes, one U.S. Army plane, and three of Panagra's planes continued the search until the morning of January 24, when a radio message was received from Captain Nelson stating that the wreckage had been located. A ground rescue group immediately departed for the scene of the accident arriving there at about 9:00 a.m. on January 25.
Fitness
Alfred John Edward, a passenger and the lone survivor on Trip 9, was an experienced pilot and had held a Class "A" British flying license, which corresponds to a U. S. private pilot certificate. He was seated on the left side in the third seat from the back of the cabin just in front of the emergency door. He stated that the flight entered the overcast about 15 minutes after leaving Arequipa and that he could not determine how long they had been in the overcast before the crash occurred, as he had been reading and dozing part of the time. In his opinion, the flight from the time of departing Arequipa appeared perfectly normal and had they broken out of the overcast or had the engines not been operating normally prior to the crash, he stated that he would have noticed it. He recalled his safety belt
