A Flight Into The Unknown: The Aircraft Accident Involving the Arellanes Clan of La Línea Cartel

"Umbra" for Borderland Beat

Note: This report, submitted by one of our readers, focuses on the 2020 aircraft collision involving the Arellanes clan of La Línea. The background of this story can be read in our previous post hyperlinked here.

The Planned Flight

On Monday June 22, 2020, at 1400 local time, a Cessna 206G with a pilot and five passengers departed Camary, Chihuahua (ICAO: MM13) for Camaguey-Campo, Sinaloa (ICAO: MM52). Some reports state the destination was Los Mochis (ICAO: MMLM).

Either way, the planned distance was around 400 km and required a climb to the southwest over the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains, which rise up to 11,500 ft (3500 m) above sea level. The planned flight time was 1 hour and 20 minutes.

The Aircraft

The accident C-206G had serial number U206052005, but published sources mention different tail numbers (registration numbers): XB-PWE and XG-CCC.

When an aircraft is sold, a new registration number can be requested by the new owner and the old number is removed from the registry and becomes available to anyone else who wants it. To simplify this issue, in this report, the accident aircraft is referred to as XB-PWE. Photos or any information about XG-CCC are unavailable.

Image credit: Net Noticias

Image credit: Sol de Parral

This type aircraft is built like a flying pickup. Rugged, with excellent short field performance, it’s a popular working machine. It can be configured with one, two or three rows of seats, or, all seats but the front left can be removed, depending on cargo space needed. They used to say if you could get it in the doors, it would take off.

Maintenance records for the airframe and engine of XB-PEW are unavailable.

There is a large door on the front left side to access the front two rows of seats.

There are two doors on the right side of the aircraft. The front door is located around the 2nd row of seats. It’s hinged at the front like a car door, and swings forward when opened. The rear door is hinged at the rear, swings rearwards to open and is located around the 3rd row of seats. 

The front door has to be open a few inches to get the rear door open. When both doors are open, the resultant opening is about 42 inches (1.1 m) wide. The two right side doors can be seen in the photo of XB-PWE and on the Loading diagram above.

The Flight

There is no information available beyond the fact of:

The Impact

After flight of around 30 minutes, the aircraft crashed near Mariano Balleza, Chihuahua, on the eastern side of the Sierra Madres Occidental.

Official AFAC information is unavailable. Published reports have used incorrect photos and vary as to the exact impact site, but two predominate:

1. El Rancho Magdalena
2. El Tule

The Impact Site

These photos show the color of paint on the nose cone (propeller hub) and stripes on the vertical stabilizer (tail) are consistent with earlier photos of C-206G XBPWE.

The Weather

The 18,000 ft (5500 m) Contour Charts show an area of high pressure over the planned route on, left, the morning of the flight at 4.00 AM PST (takeoff was 2.00 PM PST) and, right, the next day at 4.00 AM. The air over the southwest US and northern Mexico looks calm and stable. Typical for the area in June.

Precipitation Chart shows no rainfall along the flight path in the 24-hour period starting at 4.00 AM PST on June 22 and ending at 4.00 AM PST on June 23 2020, consistent with the charts above.

Satellite image from 2.00 PM PST shows no visible moisture along the planned flight route at the time of takeoff.

Precipitation image

Moisture image

The Pilot

Leonilo González Olivas, 38, was from Guachochi, Chihuahua, about 60 miles (100 km) from Mariano Belleza.

Mr. Olivas’ pilot credentials, logged flight experience, flight currency status and Medical Certificate status are unknown.

Leonilo Gonzalez Olivas, the pilot

Autopsy and associated blood and toxicology reports are unknown.

Mr. Olivas posted many online videos flying different Cessna models, including the C-206 and C-207. His videos show he had considerable experience in the mountainous area along of the planned flight route.

The Passengers

The passengers were all close relatives of Idelfonso Arellanes Acosta (alias El Poncho), the head of Los Arellanes, a group allied to La Linea Cartel:

• Katia Arellanes Santos, 23
• Idelfonso Arellanes Santos, 14
• Esmeralda Arellanes Santos, 13
• Luis Angel Lopez Arellanes, 14
• Ana Paulina López Arellanes, 12

The victims who died on the plane collision

The three-row seating configuration in this photo is consistent with a C-206G.

The Bodies

Two bodies were reportedly found approximately 1.6 miles (2 km) (30 seconds flight time) from the accident site. Their identification and autopsy results are unknown. No aircraft parts or debris has been reported found in the vicinity of the bodies, or between the bodies and the impact site.

The Investigation

AFAC is responsible for investigating aircraft accidents in Mexico, and publicly disseminating Preliminary and Final Reports to promote and improve aviation safety.

The AFAC website provides Reports just two aircraft accidents in Mexico in the year 2020, but neither is a C-206G. (Source)

In comparison, the US NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) and FAA (Federal Aviation Authority) typically issue a Preliminary Report of a civilian aircraft accident within a week of the event. It states the basic facts, and makes no attempt to come to any conclusion.

The Final Report can take up to a year. It assigns Cause, Probable Cause and Contributing Cause/s to the accident. Unfortunately, AFAC has historical credibility issues. It’s not confidence-building.

In 2021, during the FAA’s IASA audit (International Aviation Safety Assessment audit) of the AFAC, several areas of non-compliance with minimum safety standards were identified. 

Subsequently, the FAA downgraded AFAC to a Category 2 rating indicating “…the country’s laws or regulations lack the necessary requirements to oversee the country’s air carriers in accordance with minimum international safety standards, or the civil aviation authority is lacking in one or more areas such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record keeping, inspection procedures, or resolution of safety concerns…”. (Source)

The downgrade to Cat 2 has prevented all Mexican airlines from adding or expanding routes to US destinations, including from the new Felipe Angeles airport near Mexico City. It also prevents US airlines from marketing and selling tickets with their names and designators on Mexican-operated flights.

In June 2023 the FAA conducted another IASA audit of AFAC. Despite no official announcement, indications are the Cat 2 restrictions will be rescinded this year.

Cartel Involvement

The criminal group Los Arellanes, headed by Mr. Idelfonso Arellanes Acosta (El Poncho), believes that another criminal group, Los Salgueiro, was responsible for the aircraft accident. El Poncho began his career in kidnapping.

Today, Los Arellanes active in Durango, Coahuila, and Chihuahua, and headquartered around Camary, the departure airport. Los Salgueiro are considered the predominant group of the Sinaloa Cartel in the southern region of Chihuahua, as well as in some areas of Durango and Sinaloa.

Los Arrellanes have alleged that Los Salgueiro either sabotaged the aircraft or shot it down with a missile. No verifiable evidence of either accusation has been made public.

The Fuel

The two fuel tanks (9, below) are located at the wing roots. Most of the inside of the wing is empty.

The fuel tanks look like boxes (below).

The Exhaust

The engine’s exhaust tail pipe exits the lower front right side of the engine cowling, just in front of the right-wing strut (red line below), in line with the nose gear and very close to the propeller.

Note: This is not the accident aircraft

The Four Points

An accident is a result of chain of events that wouldn’t have happened if one link in the chain had broken. In an aircraft accident, if the nose, the tail, left wing, and right wing can be identified and pin-pointed, many answers lie inside those four points.

In this case, three points - the nose, the tail and left wing are visible, all in the first photo. Where is the right wing? Wherever it is, it’s certainly damaged, but likely not totally destroyed.

Theoretical Conclusions

Theories are that sabotage or a missile shot down the plane. Without AFAC’s report, everything is speculation. Sabotage is always a possibility. Where the plane was located, and what might have happened to it prior to the flight is unknown. A heat-seeking missile is designed to change course and drive straight up an aircraft’s tailpipe, exploding on contact, or in close proximity before contact.

Whether the engine of XB-PWE sustained a missile strike is unknown, although the first photo shows the prop and nose cone still in place. In this event, with this model, the area of most explosive energy would be on the right front side of the fuselage where the tailpipe is located, very close to the propeller spinning at over 2000 RPM, or 40 Revolutions Per Second. It would fatally compromise the structural integrity of the aircraft, including the right-wing strut. 

The rear of the propeller blades and the right forward fuselage would sustain considerable heat and pressure, the effects of which would be evident in the wreckage. The fuel tank on the right would ignite immediately and add a secondary explosion that would likely kill everyone aboard instantly, if the first hadn’t already.

If the pilot survived the explosion, the aircraft would be uncontrollable. With just one wing, it would likely spin, like a falling leaf, and land relatively flat, as the photos show. The left wing in the first photo shows blackening, and the wing skin looks like it melted in the fuel tank area. 

Despite that fire, the left wing remained attached to the fuselage all the way to the ground, with the propeller and nose cone still in place, and one propeller blade still unbent. Could that have happened to an engine that had sustained a missile strike? A missile is not the only way an explosion could have caused the right wing to separate. It could have been sabotage. 

Explosives could have been placed under the cabin floor near the lower right wing-strut attach point, or inside an inspection plate on the underside of the right wing, inside the wing itself.

A Phillips head screwdriver and five quiet minutes would be all it would take. One thing is certain, without more specifics, the actual cause remains unknown.