Chile: Seeker apparently discovers rubble from lost military machine

The hope of finding survivors of the suspected plane crash off the coast of Chile is dwindling. A search ship has found aircraft parts in the Antarctic sea that could have come from the Chilean military machine, which had been lost two days ago. This was announced by the Chilean Air Force on Wednesday (local time).

"Foam pieces were recovered that could be part of the fuel tanks of the missing machine," said Air Force General Eduardo Mosqueira. The remains were found in Drakestraße, 30 kilometers south of the location where the C-130 Hercules, with 38 people aboard, had last communicated wirelessly on Monday.

REUTERS

Flight route and search area (details of the Chilean Air Force)

At the time of the disappearance, the weather in the sea area was good. The conditions in the Drakestraße, however, can change rapidly, pulling up a storm from nowhere. The search area is about 400 times 450 kilometers in size. On Wednesday, the Chilean Air Force also used combat aircraft for the search. Ships from Argentina and Brazil also participated in the mission.

Now it must be ensured that the parts come from the machine

The fragments are now to be brought ashore by the Chilean ship "Antarctic Endeavor". There it is examined whether they were actually part of the allegedly crashed machine.

On Monday, the contact with the C-130 Hercules, which was from Punta Arenas in the Patagonia region to the Antarctic base Presidente Frei was demolished. On board were 17 crew members and 21 passengers. The machine transported personnel to service Presidente Frei's floating pipeline.

The Chilean base on the King George Island of the Southern Shetland Antarctic archipelago was inaugurated in 2014 and can accommodate up to 150 people. In summer, the base can also be visited by tourists.