This archive report was first published on 14 December 2019.
On December 9, 2019, a Hercules C-130 plane carrying 38 people, including 21 passengers and 17 crew members, disappeared while en route to a base in Antarctica. The plane's disappearance was abrupt, with no emergency signal sent prior to its disappearance.
Relatives of the 11 crash victims flew from Santiago to Punta Arenas to provide DNA samples, which were used to identify the remains. The remains were brought in aboard a Hercules C-130 plane and turned over to the local coroner's office.
Debris from the plane was located in a 12 square mile area in the Drake Passage, a storm-tossed body of water south of Cape Horn. The Air Force has said the plane's maintenance record was in order, but will investigate a Whatsapp audio message sent by a passenger to relatives that allegedly said the plane was having electrical problems.
