On October 2, 1996, the Boeing 757 that was on the route crashed in the waters of the Pacific Ocean nearby Pasamayo, Peru while heading to Santiago. Shortly after takeoff, the crew had reported a mechanical failure. All nine crew members and sixty-one passengers died. Rumors abounded that the crash was caused by sabotage because supposedly the Peruvian Mafia wanted one of the passengers (a prisoner who was being extradited to Argentina) dead. However, those rumors were never confirmed.
The Flight 603 incident led to the demise of AeroPeru, which folded in 1997.