Argentina

Flight logs revealed how 12 people were thrown out to their deaths into the Atlantic during the years of dictatorship.

“But I still think it has to be on display at the [death camp] museum because it is part of history now.” One entry stood out: a three-hour flight in December 1977, from the Buenos Aires city airport back to the Buenos Aires city airport, with no stop in between. “Then the plane was found in Florida, with the original flight logs intact. This was the aircraft which Ceraudo and Lewin eventually tracked down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where it was owned by a company that flies courier packages to the Bahamas. I could have died on that plane myself and many people I knew died on it. The third pilot named in the flight log, Enrique José de Saint Georges, died of natural causes awaiting trial. They included three members of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, including Villaflor, three other relatives of missing people, two French nuns and four young activists who helped the relatives in their search for their loved ones. After we published their stories, the activists tried to persuade me to join their group, and the Mothers sometimes returned if only to hold my hand in silence for 15 minutes. Two were taken from the Comet bar near the Herald offices where we had been scheduled to meet on 8 December. The FAA-registered plane is now in the hands of another US company, Win Aviation, whose owner, Andri Wiese, said he was working to finalise the logistics to return the aircraft. Then they pushed their victims out, to fall thousands of feet into the South Atlantic. On the night of 14 December 1977, the three pilots flew their turboprop aeroplane for more than an hour out over the Atlantic Ocean.

Every week, victims were selected and “transferred” away from the Navy School of Mechanics (ESMA), one of most active clandestine centers of detention, torture ...

“I couldn’t stop thinking about the bodies of the people I cared about inside that thing. The building later became the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory, which is currently nominated for the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Skyvan will fly to Argentina in its current state — it has been modified from its original version with updated electronic instruments, new engines, a weather radar, and a new automated system to open the formerly-manual cargo door. On board the plane will be original parts including a sign that used to be next to the door lever, indicating it should never be opened without authorization from the flight’s commander. It is expected to land in an Argentine airport in April, at which point the Argentine state will officially take possession of the aircraft. The airplane has been bought by the Economy Ministry, led by Sergio Massa, and will be flown from the US.