that Morse transmissions were closing down. This condition causes everything from mental confusion to loss of consciousness. The disappearance and the odd message have remained a mystery for over sixty years. This sentence now makes perfect sense, with Harmer announcing that they were expected to arrive in Santiago at 17:45 hours, at Los Cerrillos Airport. Shortly before arrival at Chile's Santiago airport, she completely vanished, her final. A popular photographer who has amassed almost 30,000 followers on Instagram has admitted that his portraits are actually generated by artificial intelligence (AI). An expedition, supported by local Argentinian soldiers, was organised to search the mountain. This condition causes everything from mental confusion to loss of consciousness. You can post your own LGF Pages simply by registering a free account with us. The captain, Reginald Cook, was an experienced former Royal Air Force pilot with combat experience during the Second World War, as were his first officer, Norman Hilton Cook, and second officer, Donald Checklin. The Stardust incident involved British South American Airways G-AGWH. STENDEC Solved (Mystery message from 1947 Andes plane crash) By Shiplord Kirel: Fan of Big Bird, Bert, and Ernie Weird December 2010 Views: 31,837 ntskeptics.org The "STENDEC mystery," referring to the cryptic message sent by a Lancastrian airliner before it vanished in the Andes, is a staple of the UFO culture. [10] The Chilean Air Force radio operator at Santiago airport described this transmission as coming in "loud and clear" but very fast; as he did not recognise the last word, he requested clarification and heard "STENDEC" repeated twice in succession before contact with the aircraft was lost. flew at this time reports that it was common to inform the airport Seems very unlikely. I couldnt find a source for this, but according to theorists online, this was a known phrase for allied fighter pilots in WWII for if their plane was about to crash land. There are theories that STENDEC was an abbreviation or acronym of a much larger phrase, and when you break it down you can imagine a whole host of sentences could be constructed using these letters. You can find yourself trying to send quickly between the troughs ,drops and bumps, making your send hard to decipher. know for certain, but I believe this is by far the most likely meaning of State Sen. Nathan Dahm (R-OK) has penned several bills loosening gun restrictions, including the nation's first anti-red flag MUNICH (AP) The United States has determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday, insisting that justice must be served to the perpetrators. simple message SCTI AR (or in layman's terms "Santiago, over"). The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable even has an entry for STENDEC. Dozens of books and articles have examined the evidence, turned it over, twisted it, rearranged the letters, and drawn a blank. The fate of the British South American Airways flight, which disappeared in a snowstorm on August 2 1947 en route from Buenos Aires to Chile, was for decades surrounded by rumours of escaping Nazi spies and stolen gold. [10] It has also been suggested that World War II pilots used this seemingly obscure abbreviation when an aircraft was in hazardous weather and was likely to crash, meaning "Severe Turbulence Encountered, Now Descending Emergency Crash-landing". in other words 'EC' without the space. Discussion Solve the Mystery of STENDEC Readers' Theories Set #3 Posted February 8, 2001 previous set The word STENDEC means: "Severe Turbulence Encountered, Now Descending, Emergency Crash-Landing.". Become a member and get exclusive access to articles, contests and more! 1 "The Bloop" is an underwater mystery that took nearly 10 years to solve. People all over the world had reported hundreds of flying saucer sightings during the last two weeks of June 1947. So mysterious was the disappearance of the plane - coupled with it's final strange message - that Stardust became entwined in UFO theories. on nothing further was heard from the aircraft and no contact was The mystery of the word STENDEC took its place among the great unsolved cases so beloved in the lore of urban legendry. NOVA Online | Vanished! | Solve the Mystery of STENDEC In Britain, the news led to a hunt for surviving relatives. Any explanation for STENDEC depends on an understanding of Morse [9] This leg of the flight was apparently uneventful until the radio operator (Harmer) sent a routine message in Morse code to the airport in Santiago at 5:41 pm, announcing an expected arrival of 5:45 pm. That was They were flying across the Andes from east to west the pilots thought they were much further west than they were and turned north straight into the mountains and collided with a peak. Several people have pointed out that This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Top 10 Intriguing Mysteries Of South America - Listverse (0), By Shiplord Kirel: Fan of Big Bird, Bert, and Ernie. And similarly why would an operator say ETA LATE when he had only The crew probably did not panic, but they were concerned about the lack of visibility and landmarks. Its certainly reasonable that they would have jumbled their message in a hypoxic state. normal for the Radio Operator to start the message by transmitting the name Their discovery revived interest in solving the mystery of what had happened to Flight CS59 and its 11 passengers and crew. The theory about it meaning emergency crash landing is interesting but given a lack of sources outside of a few people telling anecdotes I don't know how believable it is. Furthermore, Mysteries An explanation of STENDEC .. - Fly With The Stars In morse code, there are various short-hand acronyms and abbreviations which help convey much longer messages quickly. A Spanish magazine about UFOs appropriated STENDEK as its title, and at least one U.S. comic book illustrated the disappearance of the Stardust, pondering the meaning of STENDEC for its fascinated readers. More debris is expected to emerge in future, not only as a result of normal glacial motion, but also as the glacier melts. Then four years ago, several Argentinians climbing Mount Tupungato stumbled across part of a Rolls Royce engine, fragments of fuselage and strips of bleached clothing. I remember him in his RAF uniform during the war. At around 5:41pm, after transmitting routine communications to the plane as usual, the control tower at Los Cerrillos Airport in Santiago received this morse code message from Stardust: Perplexed by the final word in the telegram, the Chilean operator requested Stardusts radio officer, Dennis Harmer, to relay the message back to him, only to hear the same word, STENDEC, repeated loud and clearly twice in succession. In fact, this conspiracy ran for so long that even a Spanish magazine published in the 1970s, which was dedicated to UFOs and the paranormal, named itself after the now infamous morse code. [6] Marta Limpert, a German migr, was the only passenger known for certain to have initially boarded Star Mist in London[7] before changing aircraft in Buenos Aires to continue on to Santiago with the other passengers. 5 STENDEC Another mystery involving a plane played out on August 2, 1947. 9 Mysterious Plane Crashes - Listverse Its meaning, however, is astonishingly simple. Understanding STENDEC has been the quest for many experienced and avid radio operators, with online forums dedicated to deciphering what Dennis Harmer was trying to say. STENDEC Solved (Mystery message from 1947 Andes plane crash) - LGF Pages this method of communication. / . in other words 'EC' without the space. recognized signoff or 'end of message' signal was 'AR' (with no space out, but seems unlikely. The Foreign Office yesterday confirmed that after initially unsuccessful attempts, Argentinian scientists have found close family matches. There's still no explanation for the loss of Star Ariel, but so many things went wrong with Tudors on such a regular basis that its disappearance is hardly to be wondered at. Banksters, Peasants, and Kim Jong Un's Grandpa: A Parable for Our Times. The STENDEC mystery, referring to the cryptic message sent by a Lancastrian airliner before it vanished in the Andes, is a staple of the UFO culture. - / . But the budgetary toll of persistent underfunding is unmistakable. [11], In 2000, an Argentine Army expedition found additional wreckageincluding a propeller and wheels (one of which had an intact and inflated tyre)and noted that the wreckage was well localised, a fact which pointed to a head-on impact with the ground, and which also ruled out a mid-air explosion. Discussion Theories include everything from sabotage to aliens. The fate of the aircraft and its occupants remained unknown for over fifty years, giving rise to various conspiracy theories about its disappearance. (STENDEC). hypoxia (lack of oxygen) as the Lancastrian was unpressurised and otherwise it would not have been repeated three times. close to an understanding of the message. Recent Pages by Shiplord Kirel (Shiplord Kirel: Fan of Big Bird, Bert, and Ernie): This is the LGF Pages posting bookmarklet. It never landed in Santiagothe aircraft seemingly vanished from existence. A faulty oxygen system cant be ruled STENDEC. The wireless operator did not recognize the last word, so he requested clarification. It's certainly reasonable that they would have jumbled their message in a hypoxic state. The Morse for AR is.- /.-. So apparently the mystery hasn't been solved, because I don't see anything in the article suggesting anyone understands what Stendec meant. The problem here though is that, even if this was the case, it would be unusual for Harmer to use a phrase which was not internationally recognised, and only specifically known to allied participants of the war. / - /. . By Plane and Pilot Updated December 12, 2019 Save Article. And finally, there seems to be no reason to transmit the planes some similarities both in Morse code and English /- /.-/ .-./ -../ ..-/ / - (Stardust) _. NOVA Online | Vanished! | 1947 Official Accident Report . The actual On BSAA's Transatlantic services, moreover, it was operating at the ragged edge of its range when flying westbound. And why not problem, here is a website which translates English into Morse code. Presumed to have crash landed somewhere along the route, a five day effort began by both Chilean and Argentine search teams, including fellow BSAA pilots, yet no trace of the aircraft or its passengers were found. On August 2, 1947, the crew of a British South American Airways (BSAA) Lancastrian, an airliner version of the Avro Lancaster WWII bomber, sent a cryptic message. Four letter ICAO codes for airports had Between 1998 and 2000, about ten per cent of the total expected wreckage emerged from the glacier, prompting several re-examinations of the accident. Another explanation, advanced at the time of the disappearance, Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images. This would have explained the suddenness of its disappearance, and the fact that large pieces of wreckage had not been spotted during a wide air and land search. To use it, drag this button to your browser's bookmark bar, and title it 'LGF Pages' (or whatever you like). [13] Some BSAA pilots, however, expressed scepticism at this theory; convinced that Cook would not have started his descent without a positive indication that he had crossed the mountains; they have suggested that strong winds may have brought down the craft in some other way. Really neat, I hadn't heard of this before. You can post your own LGF Pages simply by registering a free account with us. NOVA Online | Vanished! | Theories (Feb. 8, 2001) - PBS For many years, people wondered if she'd survived the massacre that killed the rest of her family. While the fate of Star Dust had finally been solved, remaining in its wake was still the mystery of the crews final messageSTENDEC. (STENDEC) _._. Many people wrote pointing out that STENDEC is an anagram of descent. When you try to send too quickly that rythm disappears. It has taken two years to find relatives and carry out the necessary DNA tests. / . STENDEC is the same Morse as SCTI AR if you don't consider any spacing between characters. / . An explanation of STENDEC .. - Fly With The Stars between the letters). [8], Star Dust left Buenos Aires at 1:46 pm on 2 August. STENDEC. It would be the last anyone ever heard from Star Dust. The last two possible mistranslations both involve an input mistake of some sort, but there is another phrase which uses the exact same morse code sequence as STENDEC but with different spacing. The Avro Lancastrian began its life as a British Lancaster bomber in World War II. In January 2000, they located the site and began recovering debris. It is now believed that the crew became confused as to their exact location while flying at high altitudes through the (then poorly understood) jet stream. This one individual in particular mentioned that he asked his 80 year old father, who remembers hearing the phrase being used often by the radio operator on his ship when he served in the Merchant Marine during WWII. / -.. / . Vanished: The Plane That Disappeared [10] However, Star Dust never arrived, no more radio transmissions were received by the airport, and intensive efforts by both Chilean and Argentine search teams, as well as by other BSAA pilots, failed to uncover any trace of the aircraft or of the people on board. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, STENDEC - The Worlds Most Mysterious Morse Code, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathfinder_(RAF). I was a radio operator aboard an R.A.N. He flew Lancaster bombers and got medals for bringing back his aircraft one time on a wing and a prayer.". All rights reserved. Ice crystals accumulated on a probe, causing it to give incorrect speed readings and the autopilot system to disengage. Already a member? The names of the victims were known. The word [10], In 1998, two Argentine mountaineers climbing Mount Tupungatoabout 60mi (100km) west-southwest of Mendoza, and about 50mi (80km) east of Santiagofound the wreckage of a Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine, along with twisted pieces of metal and shreds of clothing, in the Tupungato Glacier at an elevation of 15,000ft (4,600m). Relatives of the crew and passengers aboard a British plane which plunged into an Argentinian glacier 55 years ago have been told this week their DNA samples match human remains recovered from a crash site 15,000ft up in the Andes. The first letter has to be V, and the rest just fall into place-ALP-a perfect match in Morse. In either case, they attempted to contact what they thought was the nearest airport, Valparaiso, not Santiago. Without rearranging any of the inputs, and just separating the spacing differently, you can come up with the phrase SCTI AR. Weird December 2010 Views: 31,751. French air safety investigators concluded in a 2012 report that the tragedy likely had been caused by an odd cascade of errors. As for the Avro Tudor, its safety record was deplorable even at the time. of the station they wish to contact. Read on these 10 strange mysteries that were solved later. Perhaps with more time, an additional transmission would have been sent explaining STENDEC, but, as things stand, while Some Try Explaining, Nobody Deciphers Enigmatic Code. Morse '._._.' They had been . The Theory If not V, then the first letters might have been EIN, or IAR, but these combinations lead nowhere. Its not even common practice for a plane to transmit its name at the end of a routine message, so this theory also unfortunately falls flat. But would they repeat AR too, not just the airport code, for clarity? It is thought that the plane may have caused an avalanche upon impact, resulting in the snowy burial of the aircraft, concealing it from searchers whilst at the same time preserving it for its eventual discovery years later. Recent Pages by Shiplord Kirel (Shiplord Kirel: Fan of Big Bird, Bert, and Ernie): This is the LGF Pages posting bookmarklet. Sign up for our newsletter, full of tips, reviews and more! The Chilean radio operator at Santiago states that the Jos Avery has been posting his impressive photos Twitter continues to crumble bit by bit. Back to 'Vanished: The Plane That Disappeared' programme page. The STENDEC Puzzle Ever since BSAA Avro Lancastrian Star Dust vanished on a flight from Buenos Aires to Santiago, the ending of its final transmission - STENDEC - has continued to puzzle experts and amateurs alike. Operating as Flight CS-59, aka Star Dust, the four-engine aircraft was en route from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Santiago, Chile, with 11 people on board. Martin Colwell's theory on the mystery "STENDEC" Almost certainly Star Tiger ran out of fuel before reaching Bermuda, a consequence of stronger-than-predicted upper-level winds. It was hard work at this elevation, and the Army had supplies for only thirty-six hours. This is fascinating. A solution to the word "STENDEC" has not been found. At 17.41 a Chilean Air Force Morse operator in Santiago picked up a message: ETA [estimated time of arrival] Santiago 17.45 hrs. And if there was any meaning to it, it wasnt in regards to the crash. / -.. / . All these variations seem implausible to a greater or lesser extent. Full video here breaking down the story - STENDEC - The World's Most Mysterious Morse Code [Transcript From Video Below] Investigators concluded that the crew, flying in a snowstorm against a powerful jet stream, must have become confused about their location and believed they were closer to their destination then they actually were, with the crash being the result of a controlled descent into terrain. Replies analysing and speculating over the mystery and possible explanations are encouraged. . To put it simply, Cook chose the worst route possible in consideration of the conditions, which more than likely played a key role in the planes disappearance. [23], "Stendec" redirects here. The Horizon staff concluded that, with the possible exception of some misunderstanding based on Morse code, none of these proposed solutions was plausible. STENDEC Solved (Mystery message from 1947 Andes plane crash) - LGF Pages ntskeptics.org The "STENDEC mystery," referring to the cryptic message sent by a Lancastrian airliner before it vanished in the Andes, is a staple of the UFO culture. You're right! . transmitted by the plane, reporting their position and intended / -.. / . The searchers discovered one propeller, its tips scarred and bent backward, indicating that the prop had been revolving when the Lancastrian plowed into the Tupungato glacier. The STENDEC Puzzle | Science 2.0 [5] The passengers were one woman and five men of Palestinian, Swiss, German and British nationality. If spacing between letters is hard to distinguish, its clear to see how some characters can be accidentally mistaken for others, leading to incorrect words or phrases. This button leads to the main index of LGF Pages, our user-submitted articles. radio operator in Santiago, where the plane was due to land. So apparently the mystery hasn't been solved, because I don't see anything in the article suggesting anyone understands what Stendec meant. . This made for interesting reading and a welcome diversion from the usual flood of depressing news. Iris Evans, who had previously served in the Women's Royal Naval Service ("Wrens") as a chief petty officer, was the flight attendant. Yet one mystery remains:. - / . USGS. I thought this had been solved in a documentary I watched. It was the manicured hand of a young woman lying among the ice and rocks. However, while the aircraft was unpressurized, its crew had been supplied with oxygen. . A FINAL WORDHorizon regrets that - due to the sheer volume of correspondence The word STENDEC was corrupted into Stendek and became. Due to the poor visibility caused by the storm, its possible that the crew were unaware that their plane was on course to collide with the mountainside, and unknowingly plummeted the aircraft into the summit before eventually succumbing to the elements. So mysterious was . that final message from the ill-fated Lancastrian. The International Civil Aviation Organisation had only recently implemented the airline code for Los Cerrillos just four months prior to the event in April 1947, so its more than possible that the airports radio operator was not yet familiar with the term and failed to recognise it. Thanks SK. This gives us the very Actually, the With so many people packing heat the country must be safer, right? . DNA clues reveal 55-year-old secrets behind crash of the Star Dust Plane and Pilot expands upon the vast base of knowledge and experience from aviations most reputable influencers to inspire, educate, entertain and inform. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Harris Joel is a founding member and the resident keyboard wizard for Umphreys McGee AND a long-time Phish fan! Since the programme transmitted we have received literally hundreds / -.-. Whilst it's certainly a bizarre coincidence, especially given the circumstances, the theory goes that Harmer was trying to inform the control tower that the plane was going down. Again, this is the same as ST, only with different spacing.- (V) The final apparently unintelligible word "STENDEC" has been a source The operator understood that Star Dust intended to land in four minutes, but the final word, STENDEC, confused him. This would mean the message he was trying to send Los Cerrillos was instead: When you look at the beginning of the words, you can notice some similarities, which shows how easy it can sometimes be to mistranslate morse code. Sign in to continue reading. Almost a year after the loss of Star Tiger, her sister aircraft, Star Ariel, also vanished in good weather while on a flight from Bermuda to Jamaica. For other uses, see, Discovery of wreckage and reconstruction of the crash, "Pilot finally cleared over mystery of 1947 mountain plane disaster", "Aircraft operated by British South American Airways", "DNA clues reveal 55-year-old secrets behind crash of the Star Dust", "Vanished: 1947 Official Accident Report", "I Am Alive: The Crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571", Ministry of Civil Aviation official report on the accident, 1948, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1947_BSAA_Avro_Lancastrian_Star_Dust_accident&oldid=1142432641, This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 10:00.