Airliner Went Down In Bolivian Mountains In 1985

The NTSB is working to take possession of a data recorder thought to be from Eastern Airlines Flight 980 that was discovered by a pair of climbers from Mount Illimani in Bolivia.

Dan Futrell and Isaac Stoner, both from Boston, climbed the mountain in May of this year. During their climb, they found what appears to be one of the data recorders from the Boeing 727-200 which impacted the mountain on January 1, 1985. There were no survivors from the accident, and international efforts to recover the data recorders were abandoned because of the ruggedness of the accident site, according to ABC News.

The two friends brought the device with them back to Boston.

Because international regulations require the civil aviation authority of the country in which the accident occurred to take the lead in any investigation, the NTSB could not examine the device without the permission of the Bolivian government. That permission was difficult to obtain. Butrell and Stoner reportedly attempted to contact the Bolivian Embassy in Washington, but their phone calls, emails and certified mail all went unanswered.

The breakthrough came on December 1. ABC News was told by  Capt. Edgar Chavez, the operations inspector at the General Directorate of Civil Aviation of Bolivia that the government would allow inspection of the device by the NTSB.

Now, it's a matter of making sure all the proper paperwork is filed. Until then, the evidence that may offer clues to what some say is one of the biggest aviation mysteries of the 20th century remains in an apartment in suburban Boston.

(Representative 727-200 pictured in file photo. Not accident airplane)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Air_Lines_Flight_980