Star Dust (aircraft)

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STENDEC redirects here. For the band, see Stendec (band).

The B.S.A.A Lancastrian 3, Star Dust

A Lancastrian 3 in flight

Star Dust was a British South American Airways airliner that mysteriously disappeared on 2 August 1947.

Star Dust (registration G-AGWH), was an Avro Lancastrian airliner, a civilian version of the Lancaster bomber of World War II. On flight CS 59, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Santiago, Chile, via Mendoza, Argentina, the airliner vanished, only to be located five decades later.

A comprehensive search of a wide area, including what is now known to have been the crash site, discovered no wreckage. What became of the flight remained a complete mystery for over 50 years. Speculation about the cause and nature of the disappearance of Star Dust included conspiracy theories such as inter-corporate sabotage and abduction by UFO.

The flight crew of the aircraft were highly experienced Royal Air Force veterans of World War II, with hundreds of flying-hours experience in both war and peace; the captain was also an experienced navigator. The aircraft was less than two years old. The six passengers included a King's Messenger carrying diplomatic documents that may have related to the UK's strained relations with the Perón government of Argentina, a German émigré suspected of Nazi sympathies, and a rich Palestinian, said to have been carrying a large diamond sewn into the lining of his jacket.

Shortly before the airliner crashed, it radioed ahead to report its expected arrival above Santiago in four minutes. Mystery continues to surround the word STENDEC, which was the last word of the final Morse-code radio transmission received from the airliner, at 17:41 standard time.

1 Discovery of wreckage; reconstruction of the crash
2 "STENDEC"
3 Casualties
- 3.1 Crew
- 3.2 Passengers
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Discovery of wreckage; reconstruction of the crash

In 1998, an Argentinian mountain guide came across the wreckage of a Rolls-Royce engine at the foot of the remote Tupungato glacier, in the Andes, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of Santiago.

In 2000, an Argentinian army expedition found that the wreckage was well localised, suggesting a head-on, rather than a glancing impact. A recovered propeller showed that its engine was running at near-cruise speed at the time of the impact. The undercarriage was still retracted, suggesting controlled flight into terrain. Remains of nine of the eleven victims have been found; they remain unidentified because of the lack of identifiable features and the degradation of their DNA.

In 1947, navigation was done mainly by dead reckoning: calculating the aircraft's position from its heading and speed and time, with corrections derived from reported winds and observation of ground features. During the final flight leg of Star Dust's flight, heavy clouds made the ground invisible.

It is possible that in the absence of ground fixes a large navigational error was made if the aircraft encountered the jet stream — thin, high-altitude winds that can sometimes blow at high speed in directions different from those of winds observed at ground level. At the time, although the jet stream was known, its actions were not widely understood. The Lancastrian was one of the few airliners then capable of flying that high. If the airliner, which had just crossed the Andes at 7,315 metres, 24,000 feet had encountered the bottom of the jet-stream zone, which in this area normally blows from the west and south-west, the crew may have been misled into thinking that they were passing through cloud on the final steep descent into Santiago when they actually were many miles to the east-north-east, over the Tupungato glacier.

The Andes above modern-day Santiago

The airliner is likely to have flown into a nearly vertical snow field near the top of the glacier, at an altitude of 4,724 m / 15,500 feet, causing an avalanche that buried the wreckage and concealed it from searchers.

The wreckage became incorporated into the body of the glacier, with fragments emerging many years later and much farther down the mountain. From 1998 to 2000, about ten percent of the wreckage, including engine and propeller parts and the wheels (one with its tyre still inflated), emerged from the glacier, prompting several re-examinations of the accident. More debris is likely to emerge as the glacier melts.

[edit] "STENDEC"

Star Dust before a flight at Morón, Buenos Aires

The word STENDEC was reported by the radio operator at Santiago airport as the last word of a "loud and clear" message, albeit keyed "very fast", from Star Dust. "ETA SANTIAGO 17.45 [standard time] STENDEC" was the last of a series of messages transmitted by Star Dust during its flight, reporting its position, altitude, and revised estimated time of arrival (ETA).

The meaning of the term STENDEC is still unknown, and has been interpreted in many ways.

One string of theories explains STENDEC to be one of a number of acronyms like "Starting En-Route Descent" or "Severe Turbulence Encountered Now Descending Emergency Crash-Landing", but none of these acronyms can be reliably documented for the era.

Other hypotheses center around a slight mishearing of the morse code by the Santiago operator. It has been suggested that STENDEC might actually have been "STR DEC" ("Starting Descent"), since in Morse Code EN is · —· and R is ·—·. Another possibility is "ST END EC" ("Standard Time, End, End of Message") or any one of a number of other combinations. None of these hypotheses can be definitely proven or ruled out. The ground radio operator claims to have requested and received a confirmation of the message, and that it was repeated more than once.

STENDEC has occasionally been misspelled STENDEK, which spelling has been adopted by a musician and a 1970s Spanish UFO magazine.

[edit] Casualties

[edit] Crew

Captain: Reginald Cook, DSO, DFC, age 29
First Officer: Norman Hilton Cook, age 31
Second Officer: Donald Cheklin, age 27
Radio Operator: Dennis Harmer, age 27
"Stargirl" (flight attendant): Iris Evans, age 26

[edit] Passengers

Casis Said Atalah, age 47, was a Palestinian returning to his wife, Lola, and children in Santiago, Chile, after travelling to Palestine to visit his dying mother. A diamond is said to have been stitched into the lining of his suit.
Jack Gooderham, age 42, was a British self-made businessman, travelling with Harald Pagh.
Harald Pagh, age 41, was a Swiss playboy businessman, polyglot, and a friend of Jack Gooderham; he was travelling to make business contacts and renew friendships.
Martha Limpert, age 67, was a German émigré returning to her home in Temuco, Chile, with her dead husband's ashes, after becoming stranded in Germany for the duration of World War II.
Paul Simpson, age 43, was a British civil servant and polyglot, a King's Messenger carrying diplomatic documents in a large canvas sack intended for the British embassy in Santiago; he joined the Foreign Office directly from Thomas Cook, the travel company.
Peter Young, age 41, a Briton, was a South American agent for the British tyre manufacturer Dunlop; he developed a taste for travel while tutoring Prince Michael of Romania in Bucharest, Romania.