London – Lisbon – Banjul – Natal – Buenos Aires – Santiago de Chile

On August 2, 1947 at 02:41 PM, London – Lisbon – Banjul – Natal – Buenos Aires – Santiago de Chile experienced a crash involving Avro 691 Lancastrian, operated by British South American Airways - BSAA, with the event recorded near Mt Tupungato Mendoza.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

11 people were known to be on board, 11 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 5, crew fatalities: 5, passengers on board: 6, passenger fatalities: 6, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is weather. After passing over Mendoza, enroute to Santiago de Chile, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with strong winds (up to 180 km/h) and heavy snow falls. While cruising at an altitude of 15,000 feet, the four engine aircraft christened 'Star Dust' hit the slope of Mt Tupungaro located in the Argentinian Andes. As the airplane failed to arrive, SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found. About 53 years later, in 2000, an official mission conducted by Argentinian Army Officers and Scientists was organized to find the aircraft. Few debris and three bodies were found and repatriated down to the valley.

Aircraft reference details include registration G-AGWH, MSN 1280, year of manufacture 1945.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately -33.3724°, -69.1480°.