The commander-in-chief of the Chilean Air Force has warned that the struggle to recover the remains of a Hercules that crashed en route to the Antarctic two weeks ago could make it difficult to ever determine what happened to the plane.
The Hercules C-130 cargo plane, which was carrying 17 crew members and 21 passengers, disappeared shortly after taking off on Dec. 9 from the southern city of Punta Arenas in Chilean Patagonia.
Extreme weather conditions, including low clouds, strong winds and massive, rolling ocean swells initially complicated search efforts, but within days an international team had recovered some debris, personal effects and human remains 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south of where the plane last made contact.
This week the investigators began underwater searches in the Drake Sea, a vast untouched ocean wilderness off the southernmost edge of the South American continent that plunges to 3,500 meters (11,500 feet).
The commander-in-chief of the Chilean Air Force, Arturo Merino Núñez, said that because more debris had not yet been found, it was possible they would "never know" what happened to the plane. "Hopefully, it will not come to that," he added.