Santiago – A Chilean military plane with 38 people aboard has gone missingafter it took off from the country’s south for a base in Antarctica and ispresumed to have crashed, authorities have said.
Seventeen of those on board the C-130 aircraft were crew and the otherswere passengers, Chile’s air force said Monday.
The plane is believed to have crashed and “all national and internationalair and maritime means available in the area are continuing the search (forsurvivors) in the sector where communications were lost with the aircraft,”it added in a statement Tuesday.
The four-engine aircraft took off Monday at 4:55 pm (19:55 GMT) from anairbase in the southern city of Punta Arenas and contact was lost at 6:13pm.
The air force said conditions for flying were good and that it was incontact with the families of those on board, many of whom were traveling tocarry out logistical support tasks at the country’s largest Antarctic baseEduardo Frei.
Personnel were also being transferred to inspect the base’s floating fuelsupply pipeline and undertake anticorrosive treatment of the facility.
The air force also said that of the passengers on board, 15 were from itsranks, three were from the army, there were two people from a privateconstruction company, and a Chile university official.
The plane did have an emergency positioning system, but it did not appearto be working during the early morning search, said Eduardo Mosqueira,Commander of the Fourth Air Brigade.
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President Sebastian Pinera, whose country is witnessing its worst civilunrest in decades, tweeted he would fly to Punta Arenas with InteriorMinister Gonzalo Blumel.
Once there, they would meet up with Defense Minister Alberto Espina tomonitor the search and rescue mission, which was underway using aircraftand navy vessels.
The plane went missing in Drake Passage — a key maritime route betweenSouth America and Antarctica frequently hit by some of the world’s worstweather. However, conditions were fine for flying on Monday, Chile’s airforce said.
The plane’s disappearance is the latest incident in a country whereChileans have for nearly two months protested social and economicinequality, as well as an entrenched political elite.
The nearly two-month crisis and its violent demonstrations have led to 26deaths and more than 12,000 injuries, according to the Organization ofAmerican States. – APP / AFP
