Brazilian ship finds debris of missing Chilean plane
The Brazilian Defense Ministry reported research ship Almirante Maximiano, of the Brazilian Navy, at around 3:45 pm (Brasília time) on Wednesday (Dec. 11) collected personal articles and debris that could have come from Hercules C-130, of Chile’s Air Force, missing since Monday (9) evening.
Plane parts and objects are reported to have been found some 280 nautical miles (518 km) away from Ushuaia, in Argentina. “The Brazilian navy ship is staying in the area in search of coordinated actions with Chilean authorities. Two speedboats from the ship continue to collect debris,” the ministry wrote.
The Brazilian vessel was on an official trip in the region, and was sent off after the accident to collaborate with the Chilean authorities in the search operations.
The Chilean aircraft left Punta Arenas, in the south of the country, on Monday (9), headed for the Eduardo Frei Montalva base, in Antarctica, but disappeared from radars approximately an hour and a half later.
The plane was carrying 17 crew members and 21 passengers on a logistic support mission at the Antarctic base to inspect a floating oil pipe and carry out an anti-corrosive treatment at the Brazilian facilities in the place.
The region where the plane disappeared is located in the 800-km wide Drake Passage connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific, between South America and Antarctica, where the average depth is 3,400 m—one of the world’s roughest places, with winds going upwards of 70 km/h and waves over eight meters tall.
