The body of a missing Air Force pilot has been found at sea after 16 days.
Ashley Stacy Vargas Mendoza disappeared while carrying out a tactical navigation training mission.
The 24-year-old was taking part in her final flight before becoming an Air Force pilot.
The Second Lieutenant was part of Air Group No. 51 of the Peruvian Air Force (FAP).
She was flying a KT-1P trainer aircraft, registration FAP 446, near the coastal town of Paracas, south-eastern Peru, just before crashing.
The pilot vanished on 20 May.
A FAP spokesperson said: “The last communication was recorded when the aircraft was near the Zarate Islet at around 4.08pm.
“The flight was scheduled to be completed at 4.25pm.”
Following a 16-day search of the region, the Air Force found the plane wreckage on the beach of an islet in the Paracas Sea last Wednesday (4 Jun).
The young woman’s remains were found strapped into the seat inside the aircraft’s cockpit at the bottom of the sea.
The victim’s family believes that she tried to manually eject from the plane prior to the crash, but the explosive cartridges failed to trigger when she pulled the handle.
They suspect that the pyrocartridges, which have a lifespan of around three years when installed, were either out-of-date or damaged.
In response to the family’s claim, FAP commander-in-chief Carlos Chávez said the cartridges were valid until December 2025.
He added: “It’s completely false that the cartridges had expired.
“They had an expiration date until the end of the year, six more months.”
Chávez said that a technical inspection of the ejection system was scheduled for 2027 and major maintenance for 2034, as reported by Need To Know.
However, he confirmed that it’s still unclear why Vargas didn’t eject before crashing.
He stated: “It’s a question I can’t answer because we don’t know.”
Before her death, Vargas had accumulated 178 flight hours and was considered one of the FAP’s most promising young pilots.
The investigation into her death is ongoing.
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