Four die when Cessna 172 crashes near Huejotzingo after takeoff from Puebla airport

# Four die when Cessna 172 crashes near Huejotzingo after takeoff from Puebla airport

A Cessna 172 crashed into farmland in the municipality of Huejotzingo, Puebla, killing four people after departing Hermanos Serdán airport for Poza Rica.

Event date: April 2, 2026. The supplied report from PotosíNoticias says the aircraft went down near the San Mateo Capultitlán-Santa Ana Xalmimilulco road, close to the Parque Industrial San Miguel Quetzalcóatl. The State Civil Protection office confirmed the crash and said it happened shortly before 1 p.m. in cultivated land beside the industrial zone.

Three people died at the scene and a fourth died later in hospital. That final death matters because it shows the emergency response continued beyond the crash site and into the local health system. The report says one survivor, Emilio Gil Ramírez, was stabilized and taken by ambulance to a hospital in Puebla before dying minutes before 3 p.m., turning what had briefly been a rescue case into a fatality count of four.

The account also says the aircraft had taken off from Hermanos Serdán International Airport bound for Poza Rica, Veracruz, and that investigators suspected an engine failure, though the cause was still being worked out. That detail is important because it places the crash in the opening phase of the flight rather than at the end of a journey. It also means investigators will likely focus on takeoff performance, mechanical condition and the aircraft's maintenance record.

The report adds that the aircraft was a C172 and that the plane had been registered in January 2022. It says the owner is confidential, the aircraft had a hangar at Cuernavaca airport and it was not linked to a flight school in Puebla. Those details do not explain why the plane went down, but they do give investigators a clearer picture of the aircraft's background and operating history.

Witness video from local farmers reportedly captured the final moments, showing the aircraft flying low before dropping sharply and breaking apart. That footage, if it is reviewed by investigators, may help reconstruct the last seconds of the flight. For now, the verified facts are straightforward: the plane left Puebla, crashed in cultivated land in Huejotzingo, and four people died.

The aircraft's registration and route details add a useful final layer to the report. A Cessna 172 leaving Puebla for Poza Rica would normally be a routine regional flight, yet this one came down shortly after departure and ended in cultivated land beside an industrial area. The report's mention of a possible engine problem should remain provisional, but it gives investigators a starting point. They will now have to work from the wreckage, the witness video and the maintenance record to establish why a flight that barely got airborne ended with four deaths.

Once the wreckage is examined, the focus will be on whether the suspected engine problem can be confirmed and whether any warning signs were visible before departure. The report does not answer that question, but it does show that four lives were lost in a short flight that ended almost immediately after takeoff. For the families involved, the details of the aircraft registry will matter less than the cause finally established by investigators.