Bulgarian Navy hands over remains of lost Argentine plane

The Bulgarian Navy has officially handed over the remains of a Neptune 2-P-103 aircraft belonging to the Argentine Navy which crashed in 1976, causing the deaths of the 10 servicemen and one journalist aboard.

According to the Télam state news agency, the identification had been made possible by the image of a 'Sol de Mayo' on one of the recovered fragments, which were located on January 15 by a Bulgarian naval vessel operating in the Antarctic.

The Neptune 2-P-103, belonging to the Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Exploración reconnaissance squad of Argentine Navy, crashed on September 15, 1976 after taking off from the Base Aeronaval Río Grande in Tierra del Fuego with the aim of making a reconnaissance flight over the Drake Passage and the South Shetlands. 

The Navy sent out a rescue team in a helicopter but this only led to more deaths since bad weather  conditions caused the helicopter also to crash, killing its three crewmen and leading to suspension of the search mission.

The reamins were formally handed over at a ceremony at at Mar del Plata naval base.

– TIMES/AFP