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Diplomatic Mailbag Found in Alps ... 46 Years Later

Bag was amid debris from 1966 Air India crash

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 31, 2012 1:15 AM CDT

(Newser) – A bag of Indian diplomatic mail bound for the US has been found 46 years after the plane transporting it crashed in the Alps, killing all 117 people on board. A mountain rescue worker found the bag and other debris from the doomed Air India plane after tourists reported seeing something shining in a glacier on Mont Blanc, reports the BBC. The Mumbai-New York flight crashed into the mountain in 1966 as it descended for a scheduled stop in Geneva.

"We found pieces of the cabin, a shoe, cables—it's a real dump up there!" says the rescue worker, who found the diplomatic bag "sitting as if someone had just placed it there" 20 yards beyond a plane wheel. "We were hoping for diamonds, or at least a few gold ingots. Instead, we got some soaking wet mail and Indian newspapers," he quipped. "It's not the sort of thing you find very often in the mountains—the mail's going to arrive 46 years late." The bag has been handed over to police, and Indian embassy officials say they're looking forward to receiving it, the Telegraph reports.

The bag was recovered from Mont Blanc after tourists spotted crash debris.
The bag was recovered from Mont Blanc after tourists spotted crash debris.   (AP Photo/David Azia,File)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 6 comments
williambaranowski
Aug 31, 2012 11:29 PM CDT
And a black fountain pen that still worked.
rainingmeatballs
Aug 31, 2012 11:13 AM CDT
stuff like this is so cool :)
JoeQ
Aug 31, 2012 10:37 AM CDT
The magic of Google ... There were two planes crashed at almost the same place. Air India Flight 101, a Boeing 707, in 1966, and Air India Flight 245, a Lockheed Super Constellation in 1950.  Smacked into a ridge next to Mont Blanc in low visibility, probably going full speed.  In the 1966 crash they figure the pilot miscalculated his location and descended too early.  Killed on the 1988 flight was the head of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission.  The wreck sites have been known about and visited for years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Flight_101
 

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