Plane Which Crashed With Football Team On Board Found After 54 Years

It was a national tragedy that stunned the world - and for more than 50 years the exact whereabouts of a plane that crashed in Chile carrying a group of football players remained a mystery.

Now climbers in the Andes mountain range say they have found the wreckage of the LAN Chile Douglas DC-3 that went down April 3, 1961 with 24 people on board.

The doomed aircraft's twisted remains were discovered high up in Maule, about 190 miles south of capital city Santiago by a group of mountaineers.


Human bones were also found scattered in the area amid parts of the broken plane. Amazingly, pictures taken at the supposed crash site show pieces of the aircraft extraordinarily-well preserved after 54 years in the mountains.

The expedition's leader, Leonardo Albornoz, said: "The plane is more than 3,200 meters up the mountain. Quite a bit of the fuselage is still there, a lot of things scattered over the area including human bones.  So this story is getting a rewrite since this is not where original accounts said."

Mr Albornoz told Chile's Channel 7 that they're keeping the exact site secret to prevent looting.

Members of the Green Cross football team, several of whom died in the 1961 plane crash.

The disappearance of the Douglas DC-3 carrying members of the top-division Chilean team Green Cross was one of the great unsolved mysteries in the South American country.

The club had played an away match in Osorno in the Copa de Chile and was returning to Santiago after a 1-1 draw.

The team and staff were spread over two flights and while one of the planes reached the Chilean capital and the other apparently vanished.

Teams of rescuers spent fruitless weeks searching for the missing flight and later funerals for the missing players were held - drawing huge crowds in Chile.

Climber Mr Albornoz added: "It was a breathtaking moment and we felt all kinds of sensations. One could feel the energy of the place and breathe the pain."