LAN-Chile Flight 621 crashed in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

on 3 April 1961. All twenty-four people on board were killed, including eight professional

footballers A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and two members of the coaching staff from CD Green Cross. It was Chile's worst ever aviation disaster at the time.

Aircraft

The accident aircraft was a

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

registration Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), th ...

CC-CLDP. It had been manufactured in 1943 as a military

Douglas C-47A The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

manufacturer's serial number A serial number is a unique identifier assigned incrementally or sequentially to an item, to ''uniquely'' identify it. Serial numbers need not be strictly numerical. They may contain letters and other typographical symbols, or may consist enti ...

9716. At the time of the accident, it had accumulated 18,300 hours.

Accident

The Douglas DC-3 airliner was one of two aircraft used to transport the football team home after an away game. It was on a domestic flight from

Castro Castro is a Romance language word that originally derived from Latin ''castrum'', a pre-Roman military camp or fortification (cf: Greek: ''kastron''; Proto-Celtic:''*Kassrik;'' br, kaer, *kastro). The English-language equivalent is '' chester''. ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

when it disappeared in the Andes. The last radio message reported

ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

covering the wings and propellers. The tail of the aircraft and a few human remains were found on 10 April 1961. Some official accounts indicate the wreckage was located on La Gotera Hill in the Lastima-Pejerreymin Range; all on board had been assumed killed. Other contemporary accounts identify the crash site as

Cerro Lastimas Cerro is Spanish for "hill" or "mountain". Toponyms ;Bolivia: * Cerro Rico, the "Rich Mountain" containing silver ore near Potosi, Bolivia ;Brazil: *Cerro Branco, a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul *Cerro Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, a municipa ...

. In February 2015 the aircraft's fuselage was discovered after more than 50 years in the Chilean

. A member of the expedition that found the wreckage was quoted as saying "''So this story is getting a rewrite since this is not where original accounts said''."ABC.net: "Chile: Plane carrying Green Cross football players found in Andes 53 years after crash"
Retrieved February 9, 2015. While the climbers declined to provide a detailed position of their find, it is consistent with the terrain and altitude of Cerro Lastimas.

Notable victims

Eliseo Mouriño Eliseo Víctor Mouriño Oyarbide (3 June 1927 – 3 April 1961) was an Argentine footballer. He began his career at Club Atlético Banfield before moving to join Boca Juniors with whom he won an Argentine league title in 1954. He played as a hol ...

Berty Gonzalez Berty may refer to: * Berty Albrecht (1893-1943), French Resistance fighter * Berty Premalal Dissanayake (1954–2013), Sri Lankan politician * Louis Berty Ayock (b. 1983), Cameroonian footballer * Maurice Berty (1884–1946), French illustrator ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:LAN Chile Flight 210 Aviation accidents and incidents in 1961 Aviation accidents and incidents in Chile Accidents and incidents involving the Douglas DC-3 Aviation accidents and incidents involving professional sports teams Club de Deportes Green Cross

210 Year 210 ( CCX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Faustinus and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 963 ''Ab urbe condita ...

April 1961 events in South America 1961 disasters in Chile

Aircraft

Accident

Notable victims

See also

References