The Valdecebro Plane Crash

[GNC]

In the latest FT, news of a 2018 Spanish plane crash caught my eye:
Info here

Not much in English, I'm afraid, in fact the above link was all I could find, but basically wreckage of an aircraft was found on a mountain in Spain, apparently after trying to land on a disused Civil War airstrip. But no bodies were found, and no one has been reported missing. In fact, there doesn't seem to be any reason for the wreckage being there at all. Any Spanish readers able to find out more?

 

[Roland Deschain]

In the latest FT, news of a 2018 Spanish plane crash caught my eye:
Info here

Not much in English, I'm afraid, in fact the above link was all I could find, but basically wreckage of an aircraft was found on a mountain in Spain, apparently after trying to land on a disused Civil War airstrip. But no bodies were found, and no one has been reported missing. In fact, there doesn't seem to be any reason for the wreckage being there at all. Any Spanish readers able to find out more?

I haven't seen the FT article but I used google translate on the newspaper stories, and I'll give a summary.

A hunter found the burned out wreck of a light aircraft on a rarely used airstrip in the forest near Teruel, Valdecebro Spain.

The aircraft was a two seater, and was falsely registered as OK-OUU 55, it was flying illegally (which I presume means no flight plan).

The reason it crashed was that the front wheel of the plane caught a low strung cable meant to deter cars from entering the airstrip. The subsequent fire was believed to have been started deliberately to hide evidence.

No bodies were found, nor accident admissions at nearby hospitals. No one has been reporting missing and neither has the plane.

It appears that the airstrip was used occasionally by forestry workers and was kept clear, and that the cable was so low that when the landing gear caught it the plane was almost on the ground anyway so a survivable prang.

What were they up to in their dodgy plane? It had a range of 1600km so Algeria is a possible take off point. Drugs, guns or a single passenger or a combination of them is my guess - getting something into Europe where it can then be taken anywhere by road.

 

[Frideswide]

Drugs, guns or a single passenger or a combination of them is my guess - getting something into Europe where it can then be taken anywhere by road.

I'll add getting something/someone OUT. In which case it would be interesting to find out who was in the area.

 

[GNC]

Whoever it was, they were keen to keep a low profile, assuming they're still alive. Is there a lot of wildlife that can eat you in that region, anyone know?