The Avion Pirata
Come to the First Ring with me and you will see a little
plaza that has an airplane sitting in the middle of it. An airplane?
Why? Let me tell you the story.
The Avion Pirata was a Lockheed Constellation that had
previously flown for Braniff International Airlines before being sold to the
Empire Supply Company in 1960. Planes
like this one and others were transporting contraband items to Argentina and
Chile, both under oppressive dictatorships at the time. Usually they would land at the Trompillo
Airport on the south side of Santa Cruz in the middle of the night.
This one flight took off in the middle of the day on
Saturday, July 29, 1961. When the
dispatcher at the control tower ask they why they were making an unauthorized
flight, they said they were just making a practice flight. He ordered them to land, but they ignored the
order.
Two P-51 Mustang fighter jets were sent to chase the
plane. The plane continued to ignore
messages from the tower to land the plane, so the P-51s began to take a few
shots at the plane. Damaged, the plane
turned around in the direction of the Trompillo, but the plane dived to try to
get the P-51s off their tail, causing one to crash. Captain Alberto Peredo Céspedes died as his
plane crashed.
The plane landed safely and the crew was arrested on the
spot. Mysteriously, all five crew members
disappeared without a trace in November of 1961.
How did a pirate airplane land at a military facility? There was corruption in the ranks. The
investigation that followed led to the arrest of 85 soldiers and the
dishonorable discharge of another 130.
Several years later the plane was moved to Boris Banzer
Prada Park on the Avenida Uruguay, the eastern section of the First Ring. It remains a favorite tourist attraction of
the people of Santa Cruz.
Adapted from an article en.wikipedia.org
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