Chilean Minister of Defense, Alberto Espina (centre), arrives at Chabunco air base in Punta Arenas, after a Chilean Air Force C-130 Hercules cargo plane went missing in the sea between the southern tip of South America and Antarctica on December 9, 2019.
Search crews are combing the Antarctic for a Chilean military transport plane carrying 38 people that vanished en route to a base on the frozen continent and will tirelessly press ahead as the hunt gains widening international support, officials said Tuesday.
Air Force General Eduardo Mosqueira said Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and the United States had lent planes to the search following Monday's disappearance.
At least 13 aircraft and several ships were scouring the area where the plane was believed to be when radio contact was lost.
"We are doing missions day and night with the resources of air force, navy and also friendly air forces at our disposal," General Eduardo Mosqueira from the Chilean Air Force.
He was briefing reporters at an air force base in Punta Arenas on the southern tip of Chile, 3,000km (1,864 miles) from the capital Santiago.
Officials said the plane had taken off in favourable conditions Monday afternoon, though it was flying in an area notorious for rapidly changing conditions, with freezing temperatures and strong winds.
Seven hours after contact was cut off, the air force declared the plane lost, though there was no sign of what happened to it
The C-130 Hercules carried 17 crew members and 21 passengers, including three civilians.
They were en route to check on a floating fuel supply line and other equipment at a Chilean base on Antarctica.
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