Lost Footballers: Plane Crash Wreckage Located

There were 24 people on the aircraft, including eight top-flight footballers, when it disappeared over the Andes 54 years ago.
 

A mountaineering team has discovered the wreckage of a plane that crashed in the Andes mountains - more than 50 years after the aircraft was reported missing.

Their gruelling journey involved two days travelling by horseback, as well as a perilous climb to 3,000m above sea level.



Some of the footballers had played for Argentina's national team

The group were searching for the fuselage of a twin-propeller aircraft which disappeared in 1961, carrying 24 people. Eight of those on board were footballers for a top-flight Chilean football team.

Although some human remains and the plane's tail were found a week later, the search effort was abandoned because treacherous conditions near the snow-capped mountains made it too dangerous to continue.

The tail of the plane was found in 1961 but the search ended soon after

Lower Lopez, who led the expedition team, had previously made two unsuccessful attempts to locate the plane and bring closure to the victims' families. Some of them want to visit the site.


Two previous attempts failed to locate the wreckage

"They want to go up, close a chapter in their lives, see where the plane and the remains of their loved ones are. But if they aren't physically able, I won't go up with them… it's too dangerous," he said.

The LAN Chile Douglas DC-3 plane went missing near the city of Linares, which is 300km south of Chile's capital, Santiago.