Operation GardelAccording to the September edition of ''Evita Montonera'', Montoneros' clandestine magazine, the name stemmed from the similarity between this action and the accident in which Tango singer

Carlos Gardel Carlos Gardel (born Charles Romuald Gardès; 11 December 1890 – 24 June 1935) was a French-born Argentine singer, songwriter, composer and actor, and the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was one of the most influential inte ...

had died in 1935. was the codename given by the

Peronist Peronism, also called justicialism,. The Justicialist Party is the main Peronist party in Argentina, it derives its name from the concept of social justice., name=, group= is an Argentine political movement based on the ideas and legacy of Ar ...

guerrilla organization

Montoneros Montoneros ( es, link=no, Movimiento Peronista Montonero-MPM) was an Argentine left-wing Peronist guerrilla organization, active throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. The name is an allusion to the 19th-century cavalry militias called Montoner ...

to the downing of a Lockheed C-130 Hercules, belonging to the 1st Air Brigade's 1st Transport Group as it took off from the old ''Teniente Benjamín Matienzo'' International Airport, carrying 114

Gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...

personnel as part of a military intervention in Tucumán province.

Background

The plan was to set off an explosive charge in the form of a conical tip placed below the runway when the C-130 was to be at full throttle during takeoff. Near the middle of the runway some 1,100 meters away from the northern end and 1,000 from the southern, a disused sewer led to a storm drain. A cable was laid through the 250-meter tunnel, emerging from the storm drain and connecting the charge to the 12V battery of a parked vehicle. The switch would be activated from a nearby pit. This "''masterpiece of military engineering''", referred to as such by Montoneros, had taken at least six months of planning; the fork of a branch was used as a benchmark to calculate the plane's trajectory.

The downing

TC-62 took off from El Palomar Air Base at 09:00, carrying 85 members of the

Argentine Federal Police The Argentine Federal Police ( es, Policía Federal Argentina or PFA) is the national civil police force of the Argentine federal government. The PFA has detachments throughout the country. Until January 1, 2017, it also acted as the local la ...

, and landed at the Benjamin Matienzo International Airport at 11:56. The plane immediately started refueling started and 114 members of the National Gendarmerie embarked on the way home for their

leave Leave may refer to: * Permission (disambiguation) ** Permitted absence from work *** Leave of absence, a period of time that one is to be away from one's primary job while maintaining the status of employee *** Annual leave, allowance of time away ...

. The trip to San Juan was to be the second leg of the four-flight day's schedule. Shortly after 13:00, the C-130 began taxiing and reached a speed of 200 km/h after traveling 800 meters. The explosion took place between 100 and 150 meters in front of the aircraft and two seconds away in time, leaving a 12-meter wide and 2-meter deep crater. The plane was between 12 and 15 meters above the ground at the time of the blast when it caught fire, leaned on its right side and crashed 400 meters further down the runway. Five gendarmes were killed and 29 wounded in the explosion and subsequent fire, including six of the seven crew members. However, one who was unhurt set out to rescue those who were still trapped. He died later from asphyxiation after repeatedly entering the burning aircraft.

Notes

References

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Background

The downing

Notes

References

See also