"STENDEC” - a Pilot's Mysterious Last Words

A commercial flight took off from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Santiago, Chile, on the afternoon of August 2, 1947. Star Dust, an Avro Lancastrian run by the British South American Airways, carried 11 people, including a British diplomat.

At 5:41 pm, the Chilean control tower received a Morse code transmission: (QUOTE) "ETA SANTIAGO 17.45 HRS STENDEC."

The message was repeated twice, and minutes later all communication was lost.

The fate of the Star Dust became a mystery, as the meaning behind the last message was not satisfactorily deciphered and search rounds did not find the aircraft’s wreckage. Its sudden disappearance became the stuff of legend.

It wasn’t until 50 years later that new evidence would be unearthed, providing some clarity about what may have happened that day in the Andes…

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