The Dakota Hunter in Bolivia, Ever since 1994, I have roamed around the globe in search for DC-3 parts. No wonder that I had multiple encounters with crashed and derelict aircraft, and found dozens of junk yards and corrosion corners. Bolivia is very special: the highest Int. airport in the world is to be found in La Paz at El Alto. Next to where the modern Jets land, there is an underground area, where the oldest aluminium crap in the world was kept operational as an aircraft. With no FAA around, things can go wrong BIG time here, This DC-4 was prepared since 6 months for a new Cargo career. At the day of the test flight, they started all engines alright, but suddenly engine nr.2 went aflame after switch-off. While the pilots frantically tried to restart and exhaust the flames, all ground crew ran around to find a fire extinguisher, There was none and the Fire Brigade from the Int Airport was called in for the job. It took that car 20 minutes to arrive at the scene, a Bolivian speed record, though. Sadly, it was too late, the pilots witnessed the fire creeping into the fuselage, they opened the cockpit door and jumped out. 10 minutes later, the proud aircraft in its new livery was bending down on its knees for the fatal blow, We stood there watching with 20 people and nothing we could do to prevent the agony of this majestic airliner, it was too sad, they all prayed and cried so loud, their work of months and future income was gone into flames in a matter of minutes! Episode from my book The Dakota Hunter, a must-read for those who love to read and see unknown crash sites of aircraft, derelict Dakotas and the conflicts with the local Military, the Militia and War Lords who tried to levy, or screw up my ops. Follow me and see more details at avionart/newsletters.php The books comes out in Oct 2014 in English edition, via the bookshops/ Amazon. The perfect Christmas gift for your friend, dad or son who loves the Aviation world! More news to follow soon via my new website, stay tuned and enjoy. Cheers.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 13:51:55 +0000