11th December, 2019
Debris from a Chilean Air Force C-130 transport that disappeared the previous day while bound for Antarctica has been found, Chilean officials announced Wednesday.
While conducting a search for signs of the propeller-driven airplane on Wednesday, the Chilean ship Antarctic Endeavor discovered sponge remains floating in the sea roughly 30 kilometers from where the C-130 was last seen on radar, according to an announcement by the Chilean Air Force.
The sponges are believed to have been attached to the plane’s fuel tanks, which are located inside its wing ponds. However, the items are being returned to the mainland for further analysis, according to the press release.
Chilean Air Force Gen. Eduardo Mosqueira told local reporters the plane never activated a distress beacon before suddenly dropping off radar. While the waterway is often treacherous, weather was reportedly clear and calm on Tuesday.
Carrying 17 crew and 21 passengers, the C-130 took off from Chile’s Punta Arenas on Tuesday afternoon, bound for a military installation on King George Island, just off the coast of Antarctica and about 770 miles southeast of their departure point.
However, they didn’t make it there, disappearing about 450 miles into the trip, while over the Drake Passage, according to the BBC.