New Delhi, Aug. 2 -- eleven sightseers who had booked an overflight of Peru's ancient desert drawings, and two crew members who had flown this route before. The aircraft, operated by Aerodiana, a local tour company with fourteen years in the business, never completed the circuit.

The plane crashed shortly after takeoff and erupted in flames, Police Major Jorge Andrade confirmed from the scene, Al Jazeera reported. All thirteen aboard were killed. The wreckage came down near the Nazca Lines themselves, the sprawling geoglyphs etched across Peru's coastal desert plateau that had drawn the passengers to the flight in the first place.

Andrade told reporters that the crash site was quickly engulfed by fire. Aerodiana confirmed the loss of it...