LAN Chile Flight 621

LAN Chile Flight 621
CC-CLDP, the aircraft involved in the accident.
Accident
Date 3 April 1961 (1961-04-03)
Site La Gotera Hill, Chile
35°59′09.6″S 71°07′33.6″W / 35.986000°S 71.126000°W / -35.986000; -71.126000Coordinates: 35°59′09.6″S 71°07′33.6″W / 35.986000°S 71.126000°W / -35.986000; -71.126000
Aircraft
Aircraft type Douglas DC-3
Operator LAN Chile
Registration CC-CLDP
Flight origin Temuco
Destination Santiago
Passengers 20
Crew 4
Fatalities 24
Injuries 0
Missing 0
Survivors 0

LAN Chile Flight 621 crashed in the Andes on 3 April 1961. All twenty-four people on board were killed,[1] including eight professional footballers and two members of the coaching staff from CD Green Cross.[2] It was Chile's worst ever aviation disaster at the time.[1]

Aircraft

The accident aircraft was a Douglas DC-3, registration CC-CLDP. It had been manufactured in 1943 as a military Douglas C-47A, manufacturer's serial number 9716. At the time of the accident, it had accumulated 18,300 hours.[1]

Missing

The Douglas DC-3 airliner was one of two aircraft used to transport the football team home after an away game.[2] It was on a domestic flight from Castro, Chile to Santiago when it disappeared in the Andes. The last radio message reported ice covering the wings and propellers.[3]

The tail of the aircraft and a few human remains were found on 10 April 1961. Some official accounts indicate the wreckage was located on La Gotera Hill in the Lastima-Pejerreymin Range; all on board had been assumed killed.[1][4] Other contemporary accounts identify the crash site as Cerro Lastimas.[5]

In February 2015 the aircraft's fuselage was discovered after more than 50 years in the Chilean Andes. A member of the expedition that found the wreckage was quoted as saying "So this story is getting a rewrite since this is not where original accounts said."[2][6] While the climbers declined to provide a detailed position of their find, it is consistent with the terrain and altitude of Cerro Lastimas.

Notable victims

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Accident description for CC-CLDP at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 8 February 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Don Mackay (5 February 2015). "Football team's plane wreck found in Chile after more than 50 years". The Mirror. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  3. ↑ "26 Feared Dead In Air Crash". The Times. London, England: The Times Digital Archive. 5 April 1961. p. 9.
  4. ↑ Anthony Esposito (9 February 2015). "Chilean mountaineers find plane lost in Andes over 53 years ago". Reuters. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "El accidente del Douglas DC-3 LAN 210 (equipo Green Cross)". 13 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  6. ↑ ABC.net: "Chile: Plane carrying Green Cross football players found in Andes 53 years after crash". Retrieved February 9, 2015.
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