PACHUCA, Mexico.- Two people, pilot Moisés González Meléndez and co-pilot José Jaime Jarquín Ramos, were killed on Monday morning, November 2, 2026, when a small Cessna plane crashed and caught fire one minute after taking off from Pachuca airport in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo, on a flight bound for Cuernavaca, Morelos, authorities said.
Mexico's Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) said the Cessna 210, registration XB-AZG, took off at 9:30 a.m. local time from Pachuca's Ingeniero Juan Guillermo Villasana National Airport bound for Cuernavaca International Airport, and at 9:31 a.m., during the initial climb, it fell to the ground about 500 meters past the end of runway 21. The aircraft, operated by Grupo Aeroespacial Avspace, a flight-training company based in Cuernavaca, struck Tezontle Avenue in the Venta Prieta neighborhood of Pachuca, near a Sam's Club store and the 18th Military Zone, and then caught fire.
Fire, emergency response and investigation
Hidalgo's civil protection authorities said the two crew members were found dead inside the aircraft once firefighters and emergency crews controlled the fire after the impact in the urban area. The State Public Security Secretariat, Hidalgo firefighters, municipal civil protection and security forces secured the perimeter and attended the blaze, while the Federal Attorney General's Office, through the Federal Public Ministry, took charge of the investigation with the collaboration of AFAC to determine the causes of the crash. AFAC said its Pachuca airport command staff went to the site and opened an administrative investigation.
La Jornada identified the victims as Moisés González Meléndez, the pilot, and José Jaime Jarquín Ramos, his co-pilot, who were heading to Cuernavaca. AFAC's initial statement did not name the victims and did not establish a cause, and early reports that linked the aircraft to the 18th Military Zone were not confirmed by the aviation authority, which identified Grupo Aeroespacial Avspace as the operator. No cause has been reported for the loss of altitude during the initial climb, and no injuries on the ground were reported by the authorities cited.
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Sources: EFE via Swissinfo and Prensa Libre, La Jornada, La Razón de México, November 2-3, 2026.