SAETA Flight 011 (1976)

SAETA Air Ecuador

Industry	Airline
Headquarters	Ecuador
Products	Passenger air transport

SAETA Flight 011 Incident

SAETA Flight 011 was a regularly scheduled passenger service operated by SAETA Air Ecuador, connecting Quito to Cuenca aboard a Vickers Viscount model 785D. On 15 August 1976, the aircraft vanished near the Chimborazo stratovolcano while carrying 55 passengers and four crew members. Despite extensive search efforts, the airplane remained missing until its wreckage was officially discovered in February 2003, nearly 26 years later.

The last communication from the pilot to air traffic control occurred above the city of Ambato. Due to the crash site's isolated position beneath Chimborazo’s glacier, locating the remains proved exceptionally challenging. The impact zone was subsequently designated as a memorial site, and no recovery of remains took place. This prolonged absence of evidence fueled numerous theories about the disappearance, including speculation about a possible hijacking, as well as controversy following the eventual discovery of the wreckage.

The aircraft was ultimately located at an elevation of 5,310 meters (17,420 feet) by two climbers from the Nuevos Horizontes mountaineering group, Pablo Chiquiza and Flavio Armas, who were charting a new ascent path on Chimborazo. However, they did not immediately disclose their find. Confirmation came only in February 2003 when a crew commissioned by television channel Teleamazonas ascended the volcano to film the crash site. At that time, human remains were uncovered alongside newspapers dated from the day of the accident and identification cards belonging to some of the passengers.

Discovery

Template:More citations needed section Extensive efforts to locate the aircraft wreckage—conducted both aerially and on foot—along the flight path toward Cuenca, as well as in areas such as Ozogoche in Chimborazo province, the Ecuadorian coast, and the eastern region of Ecuador, failed to uncover either the plane or its passengers. In the absence of physical evidence, some relatives turned to paranormal explanations and sought assistance from psychics; a few even proposed extraterrestrial abduction theories. Ultimately, the search was called off without any findings.

In October 2002, twenty-six years following the crash, climbers Pablo Chíquiza and Flavio Armas ascended a scarcely explored section of the snowy mountain. On their second day, at an altitude of 5,550 meters, they discovered remnants of the aircraft. Fascinated by this discovery, they collected samples from cans and newspapers that remarkably remained legible despite the passage of over two decades. After ascending further for some meters, they chose to return and spend the night near the wreckage before descending on the third day.

Several months later, on 14 February 2003, mountaineer Miguel Cazar publicly announced the discovery through an interview with Teleamazonas, reporting that both metal fragments and human remains were found within the García Moreno glacier on Chimborazo volcano. The original finders, Chíquiza and Armas, along with soldiers from Ecuador’s "Special Forces 9th Brigade" (Spanish: Brigada de Fuerzas Especiales N°9 Patria), revisited the site to precisely mark where the plane debris had been located.

After reviewing archived newspapers and verifying documents obtained from the General Civil Aviation Directorate (DAC) by retired Major Galo Arrieta, it was confirmed that the plane had not been officially found until then. Arrieta contacted Pablo Chíquiza during their two-day expedition and pledged support for their investigation and for publicizing the discovery, provided that then-President Lucio Gutiérrez was informed first.

Consequently, on 23 December of that year, Chíquiza and Armas returned to Chimborazo with a focused mission: to locate personal belongings or aircraft identifiers that could confirm the flight’s identity. Although searching for human remains proved challenging due to snow coverage at the crash site, they successfully recovered an identification card belonging to one passenger. Satisfied with this evidence, they descended from the mountain.

After handing over the identification document and other materials to Arrieta, they experienced a longer-than-expected delay before any official announcement was made. According to the climbers, Arrieta was slow to act on the matter. When attempts to secure an interview with President Lucio Gutiérrez failed, they eventually met with Defense Minister Nelson Herrera, who promptly ordered a military expedition to revisit the site and authorized public disclosure of the findings.

The postponement in releasing information sparked multiple inquiries conducted by the National Congress, law enforcement agencies, and government officials. Journalist Bernardo Abad from Teleamazonas reported that Rodrigo Donoso requested substantial payment for providing video footage to the channel and for its broadcast; photographers also claimed he attempted to sell photos for $100 each.

In response, Chíquiza and Armas aired an alternative video on Canal Uno shortly before Teleamazonas’s broadcast to dispute claims that Donoso’s team led the discovery. Both pairs of climbers—Chíquiza and Armas—and Donoso testified before Congress and gave statements to prosecutors. Meanwhile, Arrieta acknowledged awareness of the find but justified withholding information by stating he needed to ensure President Gutiérrez was informed first before sharing details with others.

Families finally learned where their loved ones’ remains rested. Following recommendations from military personnel and climbers Chíquiza and Armas, authorities designated the area containing the wreckage as a sacred site due to difficulties involved in recovering all bodies.

Cause

There has been considerable debate regarding whether the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) were present on the aircraft, as there is no definitive proof confirming the plane was equipped with either or both devices. The DAC asserted that the aircraft did not carry any black boxes; however, Patricio Mosquera, a former SAETA Viscount pilot who operated HC-ARS the day prior to its crash and later led the airline’s search efforts, stated that the aircraft at least had an FDR installed. He noted that the DAC mandated this requirement as early as 1976. Nevertheless, Mosquera was uncertain about the presence of a CVR, citing the passage of time and a lack of clear recollection.

This perspective, suggesting that at least one of these recorders was onboard, was supported by Carlos Serrano, a former SAETA vice-president. He maintained that when HC-ARS and its sister ship HC-AVP were acquired from Alitalia in the early 1970s, both devices were installed. Notably, HC-AVP also crashed while flying the same Quito-Cuenca route under flight number (Flight 011) on 23 April 1979. Its wreckage was discovered only five years later in the Amazonian jungle of Pastaza, approximately 25 miles off its intended course, resulting in the deaths of all five crew members and 52 passengers.

Ultimately, due to the families of those lost consenting to designate the Flight 011 crash site as sacred ground, further efforts to recover human remains and aircraft debris were halted. This decision effectively ended any official investigation by DAC or inquiries by the Attorney's Office of Riobamba. As a result, no formal probe into the accident was conducted, leaving the exact cause of the crash undetermined.

See also

• Aviation accidents and incidents
• List of deadliest aircraft accidents and incidents
• List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft

External links

• Aviation Safety Network: Incident Description
• Passenger plane discovered in Ecuador after 26 years
• Confirmation that the plane was found last year
• Aviation accidents resulting in 367 fatalities
• Accident Investigation Board confirms discovery of 1976 missing aircraft remains
• Accident Chronology
• Aircraft still unlocated after one month
• Frozen victims from plane crash uncovered 27 years later