Soccer Team Plane Found - A group of mountaineers have discovered the remains of a plane that crashed more than half a century ago in the giant Andes Mountains in Chile.
The plane was reportedly found somewhere in Maule, about 215 miles south of the country's capital Santiago.
Leonardo Alboronoz, a member of the group of mountaineers who discovered the plane, told the press that "The plane is more than 10,000ft above sea level. A large part of the fuselage is still intact and a lot of material including human bones are scattered around the wreck."
"It was a breathtaking moment and we felt all kinds of sensations. One could feel the energy of the place and breather the pain," Alboronoz revealed.
The disappearance of the Douglas DC-3 plane in April 1961 had been one of the oldest mysteries in Chilean soccer history. The plane was carry about 8 players of the Green Cross team, as well as members of the club and up to 3 referees when it went missing. All 24 people who were on the plane are believed to have died in the crash.
The Green Cross team had reportedly played one leg of a Copa le Chile tie against Osorno and were heading back to Santiago when the mysterious accident occurred. Reports indicate that the plane simply lost contact with the ground and was never found until now. Investigators have since ruled that the plane crashed and a funeral was organized for the people in the flight.
While the discovery of the crash site has been lauded as an important development for Chilean soccer, the mountaineers who found the plane have chosen to keep the exact location of the site secret from the public out of respect for the families of the deceased.
Although the loss of 8 players dealt a heavy blow to the Green Cross, the team managed to continue to participate in top flight soccer in the country until it folded in 1985.
