All 21 aboard Chile air force plane dead – defense minister

SANTIAGO – All 21 people aboard the Chilean air force plane that crashed into the Pacific on its way to a remote archipelago died instantaneously, the defense minister said Saturday.

“Based on observations and the search we carried out with the Air Force commander, we have reached the conclusion that the impact was such that it should have resulted in the instantaneous death of all of those who were aboard the aircraft,” Defense Minister Andres Allamand told reporters.

A major search operation had been launched late Friday in the waters around the Juan Fernandez islands, some 700 kilometers (435 miles) from the South American coastline, and some debris from the missing plane has been located in the sea.

So far, only four bodies have been recovered.