Chilean military plane missing in Antarctica
Chilean military plane missing in Antarctica |Chilean military plane missing on its way to Antarctica. A Chilean military plane from South America went missing on Airbus in Antarctica, with 38 people aboard.
According to a report by the US news agency AP, the Chilean Air Force’s connection to the plane was disconnected late last night, while officials indicated hours later that they were not optimistic about the aircraft.
Earlier, the Chilean army had said that they had issued an alert and investigative teams were tracking the aircraft. The C-130 Hercules has 17 crew members and 21 passenger riders, 3 of whom are civilians while the aircraft crew had to arrive at Chile’s airport to provide fuel and other equipment. Chilean President Sebastian Panera said in a tweet on social networking site Twitter that he was present at the Air Force Headquarters with the Defense and Interior Ministers and was monitoring the progress in this regard.
In a statement regarding the disappearance of the aircraft, the Air Force said that after more than 7 hours the aircraft had no address but it would have run out of fuel at 12:30 pm. The Air Force is conducting a search operation in the area where the communication with the aircraft was disconnected to rescue the survivors, the statement said. The initial announcement stated that the plane flew from Punta Arenas at 4pm to 53 minutes, which was more than 3,000 kilometers from the capital San Diego, and the plane was disconnected at 6am and 13am.
The plane went missing on Drake’s Passage, famed for severe weather conditions, including freezing temperatures and severe storms. However, the Chilean Air Force had said yesterday that when the plane landed, the weather was good otherwise the mission would not depart.
Fourth Air Brigade General Eduardo Mosquera told local media that a search for the aircraft was underway and that a ship also participated in a search operation in the area where the plane was disconnected.
He said when the plane was disconnected it was about half a distance from Antarctica base, but no emergency signals were activated. General Edward said that the aircraft pilots who had extensive experience were scheduled to return last night.
