STENDEC
An airliner crossing the Andes sent a strange last message, 'STENDEC', and vanished. It was found inside a glacier 50 years later.
What was reported
On 2 August 1947, the British airliner Star Dust was flying from Buenos Aires to Santiago over the Andes. Shortly before it was due to land, its radio operator sent a Morse message ending with the word 'STENDEC', repeated. The operator in Santiago didn't understand it, and the plane was never heard from again.
In 1998 climbers found wreckage on the Tupungato glacier, and an Argentine army expedition in 2000 recovered more, carried down by the slowly moving ice.
Explanations offered
Investigators concluded the crew, flying into a strong high-altitude wind they didn't know about, thought they'd crossed the mountains and began descending too early. The wreck was buried in snow and carried along inside the glacier. What STENDEC meant has never been settled.
- When
- 2 August 1947
- Where
- Mount Tupungato, Andes, Argentina
- Witnesses
- Radio operators in Santiago
- Status
- Mostly explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.