Amatuers Recover Lost Plane Wreckage in Bolivia

[Blarg]

Two average guys with no mountaineering expertise climbed up to a "inaccessible wreck" in Bolivia and came down with evidence of human remains that a professional crew of investigators never found. The Jet crash took place in 1985 and had remained almost completely undisturbed except by natural causes like avalanches and wind.

"What are the chances that a couple of knuckleheads, with no mountaineering experience could actually go up to the top of this 20,000ft mountain and find anything?" asks Isaac Stoner.

"Still I thought it would be a neat vacation."

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-38932974

Full Story from Outside Magazine, a very long read.

https://www.outsideonline.com/2126426/what-happened-eastern-airlines-flight-980

[gotbeer]

Just proof that Beer is responsible for how things get done.

Quote

"We were on the couch drinking beer," Stoner recalls, "and Dan said, 'Look, this black box is just sitting on the top of a mountain in Bolivia. Let's go get it.'"

 

[Homebrewer]

[AngelsLakersFan]

Quote

 

The team set off for their base camp at 15,400ft (4,700m) above sea-level in a battered four-wheel drive, though two miles short of their destination they came to a halt. The road had been blocked by a rock fall, and they had to get out and walk.

The next day they hiked for 45 minutes and, as Rauch had promised, they found themselves in the midst of the plane wreckage.

 

Sounds like the reason nothing had ever been recovered was because no one cared, not because it was all that difficult.

[wopphil]

What a great read. Very entertaining.

[Homebrewer]

I've walked through a couple of plane crash scenes, in remote, rugged, and hard to get to places, with pieces and parts strewn over a large area (metal airplane pieces and parts)  It's a really strange and bizarre experience. 

[arch stanton]

They once used our security vault to store some crash site pieces. It's a distinctive smell that's a sickening combination of burnt cables and melted metal. Eerie

[Homebrewer]

One I went to was a military jet that was too remote to remove all of the wreckage, so they had sent people up there to grind and deface all of the serial numbers from every part.