Mexico City Plane Crash

November 4, 2008
At approximately 6:45 PM (CST) on November 4th, 2008, a Learjet-45 aircraft owned by Mexico’s Interior Ministry crashed into rush-hour traffic in Mexico City’s busy Las Lomas financial district. All nine occupants of the plane were killed, along with five people on the ground. The aircraft crashed near the intersection of Paseo de la Reforma and the Anillo Periférico highway. An explosion occurred upon impact, setting several cars on fire and heavily damaging surrounding buildings. Forty people on the ground were wounded. The jet was traveling from San Luis Potosí to Mexico City International Airport and crashed just a few minutes from the runway.

On board the plane was the Mexican Interior Minister, Juan Camilo Mouriño. Mouriño was an internal figure in the country’s high-profile operations against drug trafficking. Despite concerns, investigations into the accident indicated that it was the result of pilot error. Officials deduced that the Learjet was following too closely to a commercial Mexicana flight, and suffered wake turbulence as a result. Analyzing black box recordings, investigators found the flight crew to be inexperienced in the operation of the aircraft and did not properly follow the directions of air traffic controllers.

Selected Updates

NC4 Incident Monitoring Center issued the following alerts:

• A small aircraft crashed into Mexico City traffic on Tuesday, setting cars on fire. 11/4/08 17:35 PST
  
  
• Six believed to have been killed in plane crash in Mexico City.
  11/4/08 18:02 PST
  

• Mexican Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mourina among those killed in plane crash. 11/4/08 18:26 PST
  

• Death toll rises to eight, including Mexico’s Interior Minister.
  11/4/08 18:46 PST
  
  
• Fourteen people reportedly killed in plane crash; several casualties on the ground.
  11/5/08 08:25 PST
  
  
• Preliminary investigations reveal cause was accidental and not criminal; this incident is closed.  11/6/08 05:49 PST
  

 

Additional Resources
NC4 provides ongoing updates to members as the incident unfolds through the National Incident Monitoring Center (NIMC). NIMC analysts follow the incident using official government sources as well as national and local media sources - linking to the Informador local breaking news article, Mouriño muere en accident aéreo, which included images from the scene and eyewitness reports.

One-page printable summary with graphics