[2] A Peruvian government investigation concluded that the accident was caused by improper execution of engine-out procedures by the flight crew and lack of proper maintenance.

[5] August 9, 1970, was a Sunday, and Flight 502 was originally scheduled to depart Cuzco at 8:30 am,[6][note 1][7] but since many of the members of the American group wanted to visit the nearby Pisac native handicraft market prior to leaving for Lima, the airline postponed the departure time to 2:45 pm.

[1] The plane entered a 30–45 degree bank, then rapidly lost altitude and crashed into hilly terrain about 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) west-southwest of the runway, above the village of San Jerónimo.

The fuel on board caught fire and all aboard perished except the copilot, 26-year-old Juan Loo,[9] who was found in the wreckage of the cockpit badly burned but alive.

[13][note 4] About a year after the accident, a monument—a large white cross with an attached nameplate—was erected on the spot of the crash site to commemorate the victims of LANSA flight 502.

Senator from New York, Charles E. Schumer, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Consulate General in Peru, agreed to relocate the memorial 46 m (150 ft) away to protect the site.