France Press agency
‘Where They Throwed My Mama…’: An Airplane’s Touching Return From ‘Death Journeys’
He would soon become one of the most chilling witnesses of the Argentine dictatorship (1976-1983): a small, twin-engine, used on “death cruises” that throw prisoners overboard, had just been brought back after several decades abroad, for one last voyage. that memory. & nbsp; “It is a very difficult moment, because on the one hand, we want the plane to be there, and on the other hand we say to ourselves: What are my feelings by telling myself that it was from there that they threw my mother..? Friday in Tucumán (Northwest), according to Agence France-Presse, and it is expected by Monday in Buenos Aires. Between rest, and even the “opportunity”, Cecilia dares, to be able to “close the story” more, and the “horror” of imagining her mother, drugged , in this zinc. The Skyvan PA51 is a small transport plane pot—born in the 1960s, with unattractive lines, but we think it’s practical. The “flying shoebox,” as it’s been dubbed in aeronautics, for its rectangular body. It’s been praised for its take-off And its short descent, its carrying capacity (19 passengers), and therefore … its wide rear ramp… This Skyvan has been used on numerous “death rides”, including on the night of December 14, 1977, when twelve people were thrown over the mouth of La Plata. Among them, the mothers of Cecilia and Mabel, some of the “mothers of the Plaza de Mayo”, but also two French nuns, Alice Dumont and Léonie Duque. – Patient tracking to the plane – Of these twelve, five were among the few victims of the “robbers” whose bodies were recovered – The goal was to make them disappear forever. This time, adverse sea winds brought the remains to the coast, hastily buried under “NN” (unnamed), and it wasn’t until later — 2005 — that exhumations and genetic testing allowed identification. The others, likely in the thousands (the number has never been proven, but there have been hundreds of thefts), were never found after they were “relocated”. The detainees said they would be “transferred” to a remote detention center in the south of the country, but had to be put to sleep for the journey… Ironically, they called these trips “Pento-naval” (for the use of Pentothal anesthesia), he was taken to AFP Enrique Piñeyro, a former pilot turned director who helped track down the plane as the Skyvan’s return is the result of a patient search. From Cecilia, Mabel, but also from a detention center survivor, Miriam Lewin, and from the Italian photographer Giancarlo Cerrudo. I thought where these planes could be? Because whoever says the plane … trace the pilots.” The trials of the dictatorship resumed, after a controversial phase of amnesty, and reopened views. It was necessary first to locate the plane, through flight records, and also to locate the “fanatics” or “observers.” whose hobby is to follow planes.Wherever they go in the world – memory or ‘show’?- Six planes – there were others – have been identified as having taken part in ‘death flights’. Some of them were destroyed during the Falklands War (1982 ), and sold one to Luxembourg, one to Great Britain, and one to Florida, where it made postal flights. What the “aircraft trackers” didn’t know, was that the “history” of the aircraft, the flight plans, and the names of the pilots remained on record even if the aircraft changed hands. Once those records were recovered They got help from the pilots to decode the data and identify “between 10 and 15 suspicious flights” in the night—including three pilots involved in “death flights.” The owners approved the idea, and the government offered its active support, departing the United States in The beginning of June, and the Skyvan arrived, after several stops, on Friday.It should eventually be displayed in Buenos Aires near the Museum of Memory that formerly became ESMA, the “School of Naval Mechanics,” the dictatorship’s most famous detention center. If, at least, he overcomes the protests of the motley wing of the “Place de Mai Mothers” who deplore the attempt to “make death an accident” and wish to melt down the plane’s metal, for a sculpture honoring the mothers and the missing. ls/pbl/tmt
