Eastern Air Lines Flight 980
| Date | 1 January 1985 |
|---|---|
| Location | Mount Illimani, Bolivia |
| Deaths | 29 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Description | 1985 Bolivian plane crash, possibly Iran-Contra-related |
Eastern Air Lines Flight 980 was a scheduled international flight from Asunción, Paraguay, to Miami, Florida, United States. On January 1, 1985, while descending towards La Paz, Bolivia, for a scheduled stopover, the Boeing 727 jetliner struck Mount Illimani at an altitude of 19600 ft, killing all 29 people on board.
Problems with official narrative
In a book written about the crash - Final Destination: Disaster: What Really Happened To Eastern Airlines by George Jehn, Jehn suggest that maybe the investigation was so poor because drugs for arms were being smuggled under Reagan, and that intertwines with the Iran-Contra affair.[1][2]
In 1985, a representative of the US Embassy hired a Bolivian mountaineer, Bernardo Guarachi, and two assistant climbers to climb to the site. They were able to reach the site two days after the crash. The team found open suitcases, papers from the cockpit, crocodile skins, and shoes. The did not see bodies, just blood, as everything and everyone had disintegrated on impact. Upon their return from the crash site Guarachi's team was detained by the Bolivian military, separated, and taken to three different tents. "They searched us all," Guarachi says. "My backpack, even our clothing. They got us naked." He told them that all he'd found were plane parts and snakeskins. They were taken by helicopter to the [[airport] and interrogated again. The official Bolivian crash report states that there were no bodies or blood, but Guarachi says that' s because he was too scared to talk about what he saw due to a threat he received. "One of the men threatened me," Guarachi says. "He said, 'Careful telling anyone about this. I will ruin you.'"[3]
In 1986, a criminal indictment against 22 Eastern baggage handlers revealed that, for three years, the airline had indeed been used to deliver weekly shipments of 300 pounds of cocaine from South America to Miami.[4]
Eastern declared bankruptcy in 1989 and dissolved in 1991.
References
- ↑ https://www.amazon.com/Final-Destination-Disaster-Happened-Airlines-ebook/dp/B00N245B3C
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/gsecn5/the_continuing_mystery_of_eastern_airlines_flight/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/gsecn5/the_continuing_mystery_of_eastern_airlines_flight/
- ↑ https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/09/27/Eastern-employees-charged-in-cocaine-ring/4004528177600/
