LAN Chile (now LAN Airlines) (Santiago) flight 210 operated with Douglas C-47A-DL (DC-3) CC-CLDP (msn 9716) crashed in the Andes Mountains on April 3, 1961 on a flight from Temuco to Santiago, Chile. According to Wikipedia, all 24 people on the DC-3 were killed, including eight professional soccer players and two members of the coaching staff from CD Green Cross.

At the time, the crash was Chile’s worst ever aviation disaster. The wreckage has remained undiscovered until this month.

According to this report by The Guardian, the wreckage has been discovered by Chilean mountaineers at an altitude of 10,500 feet and approximately 215 miles south of Santiago.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

However contributor, aviation writer and photographer Alvaro Romero of Chile disputes the article published in The Guardian with this comment and photo:

Please find a photo (above) taken straight from the air investigation after the crash of LAN Douglas DC-3 CC-CLDP on April 3 1961. The remains of the aircraft were located on the hill known as Lástimas del Pejerrey, 7 days after the accident (71°10 W 35°5 S). Of the 24 persons on board (four crewmembers and 20 passengers) only the remains of 18 were identified, most of them were with burned flesh, with pieces of clothing that were recognized by their relatives.

It was stated that the crash was because of a number of contributing factors: poor design of Airway 45 (that was too close to the mountains), the deviation of the aircraft because of strong winds from the West, lack of anti-icing devices on wings – these were deleted on LAN-Chile DC-3s), poor quality and too much distance between radio beacons of Victoria and Curicó, lack of IFR training of co-pilots increasing workload on the pilots, use of air frequencies of LAN not only for pilots-land contacts but also for internal, administrative communications, etc.

Recently some in the media have published enthusiastic news regarding the “discovery” of the aircraft remains, even stating these were not found and saying it was a sort of a solved mystery, that’s far beyond the truth.

Thank you Alvaro.

 

Copyright Photo: Alvaro Romero/AirlinersGallery.com. Sister ship Douglas C-47A-DK (DC-3) CC-CLDT (msn 13296) is preserved in Santiago at the Museu Aeronautico y del Espacio de Chile.

LAN Airlines – LAN Chile aircraft slide show: