In 2015 we carried out an extensive research, visiting Panama and Costa Rica, where we interviewed hundreds of governmental entities authorities and residents of the Costa Rican coast.
Thanks to these interviews, we could obtain documents that categorically supported the United States Air Force’s and the Argentine Air Force’s conclusion: the TC48 fell into the sea, and there were no survivors.
The documents we could find are:
-Transcription of radio communications of the rescue operation (SAR) carried out by the United States Air Force. It is there recorded that, as from November 7, 1965, the minute-to-minute collection of the Argentine aircraft elements, floating on the Caribbean Sea, such as 27 life jackets with the inscription “Maritime National Prefecture” (nowadays Argentine Naval Prefecture) hats with the name of Captain Jorge Santiago Horta and Cadet Juan Carlos Santiago, and personal documentation of Cadet Oscar Viustaz and Cadet Julio Mario Pereyra.
-Logbook of the ship USS Dodge County LST- 722, one of the many US Navy boats that took part in the rescue operation of the TC48, where there was a record of the recovery of Cadet Julio Mario Pereyra’s passport and a vaccination certificate on Caribbean waters.
-Two colored video recordings made by the United States Air Force during the search and rescue operation of the Argentine aircraft, which we obtained in 2017 thanks to the invaluable investigation of oceanographer José Rivera of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
It can be clearly seen that the collection of yellow life jackets in the Caribbean Sea and their subsequent delivery to the Argentine officials of T43, among whom the head of the delegation, Brigadier Benigno Andrada could be recognized.
In the Foundation’s opinion, there is no doubt that the remains of TC48 and its 68 occupants are laying on the bottom of the Caribbean Sea.
Our job is to define the searching areas and to make an adequate exploration, to dismiss spaces. The challenge is not to give up and keep looking until we find the TC48 and its crew.