SANTIAGO, Chile – All 21 people aboard a military plane that crashed in the Pacific Ocean near Chile’s remote Juan Fernandez islands are dead, the government said Saturday.
The Chilean CASA 212 plane crashed Friday afternoon after two failed attempts to land in difficult weather on the islands.
“After a search involving the commander in chief of the FACh (Chilean air force) the conclusion has been reached that the impact was so powerful it would have led to the instant death of those on board the plane,” said Defence Minister Andres Allamand.
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Earlier Saturday, Chilean officials said the bodies of two women and two men were recovered by searchers or fishermen. Searchers said they had also found pieces of the plane’s wreckage.
Among those aboard was popular Chilean television personality Felipe Camiroaga and four other members of a crew from a morning show on Chilean state television. They were planning to film a report about reconstruction on the islands after last year’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.
Camiroaga, 44, had co-hosted the Vina del Mar music festival in 2009 and 2010.
The Juan Fernandez archipelago, located 416 miles (670 kilometres) from the mainland, is known for possibly having inspired the novel Robinson Crusoe.
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