He died in 1910 after a heavy wind broke the wings of his fragile airplane Bleriot XI, falling from a twenty-meter height upon landing, after achieving the first air crossing of the Pennine Alps.

[1] Chávez attended the school of aviation established by Henry and Maurice Farman where he got his pilot license and undertook his first flight in Reims on February 28, 1910.

[5] Badly injured but conscious, Chávez was taken to San Biaggio Hospital of Domodossola, where he was officially declared winner of the competition and received telegrams from all over the world congratulating him for his achievement.

He also received the visit of the president of the Aero Club of Italy and gave one last interview to his friend the journalist Luigi Barzini, telling all the details of his flight.

His remains were initially buried in France but repatriated to Peru in 1957, where they currently rest at the Officer's School of the Peruvian Air Force at Las Palmas.