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
used to transport contraband items to Argentina and Chile, both under oppressive
dictatorships at the time. Usually they
would land and take off at the Trompillo Airport on the south side of Santa Cruz in the
middle of the night. Money was exchanged so, of course, nobody seemed to care.
Except one flight took off in the middle of the day on Saturday, July 29, 1961. That was something that just could not be allowed to happen. When the dispatcher at the control tower asked 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. The order was repeated and was ignored again.
Two P-51 Mustang fighter jets were sent to
chase the plane. The plane continued to
ignore messages from the tower to land, 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 jet to crash. Captain Alberto Peredo Céspedes, the pilot, died as his
plane crashed.
Cespedes is on the far right.
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, most likely money exchanged hands again.
How was a pirate airplane allowed to 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.
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