Search and rescue operations were quickly started, but eventually abandoned after several days without finding any trace of the plane or its occupants.

[2] The mystery of the aircraft's disappearance gave birth to a theory published in The New York Times in November 1979, stating that the plane had been hijacked and flown to Colombia to participate in the drug smuggling to the United States.

[3] The theory was disproved when the plane wreckage was discovered on a mountain slope at a height of 5500 meter (18045 feet) in the region of Shell-Mera, Pastaza Province, in 1984.

[5][6] The plane wreckage was discovered on a mountain slope at a height of 5500 meters (18045 feet) in the region of Shell-Mera, Pastaza Province, in 1984.

An investigation of the accident revealed that the aircraft had deviated 46 km (29 miles) from its intended course to Cuenca.