The aircraft was transporting a crew from Chile's national TV, and among the victims were presenter Felipe Camiroaga and journalist Roberto Bruce.

[2] At 16:48, personnel at the airfield observed the aircraft performing a wide turn at low altitude; it then disappeared from view behind a hill without re-emerging.

He was accompanied by journalist Roberto Bruce and three other members of the TV channel, including photographer Romina Irarrázabal.

An SD card identified to have come from Irarrázabal's Nikon camera contained 409 photographs; of the six taken on the plane, the final two respectively document the cabin floor during or shortly after the descent, and the water level of the ocean against a window as the aircraft began to sink.

Investigators concluded that, while flying the downwind leg around the airfield at 650 ft (200 m) above the sea, a sudden loss of control caused the aircraft to roll almost inverted, lose altitude and strike the surface of the water.