Page 108 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo II

610 XXXIV Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

The first one took place with two Boeing 707 flying to Patagonia and two Boeing 737 to
cross the islands. Austral gave a plane BAC 111. These planes flew from Rio Gallegos Base
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and Comodoro Rivadavia, operating according to the circumstances from April 11 to 27 .
aeroLíneas argentinas
Juan Carlos Pellegrini, president of the enterprise, asked the corresponding planning as
soon as he received the request from the Air Force.
the planes Boeing 707 would operate on a suitable airport, so no significant changes
would be necessary. But it was not the same for the planes 737 as there was no record of
operating in so short runways as the one in Malavinas, only 1,250 mts. long.
The most complicated procedure would be to stop the forty-six tns after having landed at
about 135 knots, on the short runway which was always wet and with cross winds.
The planes B-737 participating in crossing were LV-JTD “Ciudad de Tucuman” and LV-
LED “Ciudad de Esquel” under the nicknames: PETREL 8 and PETREL 9.

austraL airLines
The plane BAC-111 from Austral was LV-OAX and it was adapted similar to the ones
from Aerolineas to operate in Malvinas. Two commanders and four first officers were in
charge of crossing, where almost sixteen hours of flight were performed. They were assisted
by five technicians and a non commissioned officer/ load master.

generaL information
As it was already stated, the situation led to increase the number of flights to Malvinas
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more than the airport was capable of receiving. For example: on April 25 thirty-four flights
were done between Comodoro Rivadavia and Puerto Argentino, from which eight ones with
civil aircrafts.
After the ceasefire, the commercial planes withdrew the troops to their units. When the
transport operations finished, by June 29 , Aerolineas Argentinas had flown four thousand
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hours and Austral four hundred and one. Both transported 603 tns of goods and 14,465 peo-
ple. The Air Port to Malvinas was an unprecedented military operation and its history would
be incomplete if the participation of the Argentine commercial aviation was omitted.

civiL piLots participation
Fenix Squadron
The idea to form an air space squadron or a unit with civil aircrafts was born in November
1978, during the border conflicts between Argentina and Chile. It was the time when it was
thought to use some types of civil plans and to plan the task they were supposed to do.
Several names were proposed to the new unit: Special air Units, Zero Squadron, and
Fenix Squadron. This last one was the most appropriate, because it would be similar to bird
mythology, it would be operating during conflicts and disappeared in peace time.
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During April 13 and 28 , a group of officers drew the plan, being assessed by lieutenant
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Anibal D. Poggy for the plane Hawker Siddeley HS-125 and the captain Edgardo A. Acosta
for the planes Lear Jet, both were officers of the reserves.