Suspected ‘ghost flight’: plane loses contact with control center and flies in circles before crashing in Bolivia

Suspected ‘ghost flight’: plane flies in circles before crashing in Bolivia A small aircraft crashed in Bolivia after losing contact with the control tower and describing circles in the sky. Two people were on board — pilot and co-pilot — and died in the crash. The main suspicion is that the incident, which occurred on Monday (13), resulted from a so-called “ghost flight”, when pilots lose consciousness (or their lives) in the air. The most frequent cause of this type of occurrence is the loss of cabin pressurization, which makes the air thinner and causes hypoxia in the occupants. The Cessna Citation 550 registration CP-3243 took off from La Paz bound for Santa Cruz de la Sierra, also in Bolivia. At 8:47 am local time, approximately 30 minutes after takeoff, when flying over a region north of the city of Cochabamba, communication with the air control center was lost. At around 9 am, the aircraft began to describe circles in the sky, progressively deviating from its route towards the west. It still remained visible on radar until 11am, when it probably crashed in a forested area. Circle route described by Cessna Citation 550 registration CP-3243, which crashed in Bolivia on April 13, 2026 Reproduction/FlightRadar24 There are no reports that there was any emergency signaling by the crew. According to the Bolivian press, the Cessna belonged to Oscar Mario Justiniano, current minister of Productive Development. He, who is also a businessman, was not on board the plane. The victims were identified as Carlos Moyano and Julio Sardán. Bolivia’s Air Accident and Incident Investigation Directorate has opened an investigation that will officially determine the causes of the incident. Course of the Cessna Citation that crashed in Bolivia on April 13, 2026 Reproduction/FlightRadar24

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