LOST CONTACT

Chilean Military Plane Disappears En Route to Antarctica With 38 People Aboard

The aircraft was carrying 17 crew members and 21 passengers, including three civilians.

The Chilean air force said it lost radio contact with a plane flying to the country’s base in Antarctica on Monday evening. The air force said in a statement that the four-engine aircraft lost radio contact around 6 p.m. near the Drake Passage, the body of water between the tip of South America and Antarctica. Authorities are conducting a search-and-rescue mission for the C-130 Hercules aircraft, which was carrying 17 crew members and 21 passengers, including three civilians. The Associated Press reports that Gen. Eduardo Mosqueira of the Fourth Air Brigade told local media that the aircraft would have been about halfway to the Antarctic base when it lost contact. He said no emergency signals had been activated. The personnel were on a mission to check on a floating fuel-supply line and other equipment at the base.