Chilean Air Force has located debris that could be from one of its aircraft that went missing on Monday with 38 people on board, AFP reported on Thursday. The plane was on its way to Antarctica when it disappeared from radar screens.
The floating wreckage could be from the C-130 aircraft’s fuel tanks. It was was spotted 30 km from Drake Passage, south of Cape Horn – the plane’s last-known location.
Chile Air Force Commander Eduardo Mosqueira said the debris “could be a part of the remains of the sponges of the internal fuel tanks”.
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro tweeted that one of his country’s Navy ships had found more debris along with purported personal belongings of the passengers. “The parts of the plane and the objects were found approximately 280 nautical miles [518 km] from Ushuaia in Argentina,” he said, adding that the ship was coordinating with Chilean officials to collect other remains.
Planes and ships from the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, Brazil, and Uruguay are also scouring through nearly 1,000 square km around the plane’s last location. Out of the 38 people on board, 17 were crew members and 21 were passengers, including three Chilean soldiers, two civilians employed on a military base, and one student. The rest were air force personnel, according to BBC.
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