I have, however found a claim regarding solution.
The North Texas Skeptic, vol.24 Dec. 2010 has an article stating "STENDEC Solved"
The North Texas Skeptic, Dec 2010
In 2000 the Argentine Army detachment found the debris scattered over one square kilometer, a relatively small area, so the bomb theory was discarded. The Army unit also discovered that the wheels on the plane were in an upward position, so the crew had not attempted an emergency landing. One of the two main landing wheels was still fully inflated after a half century! The searchers discovered one propeller, its tips scarred and bent backward, indicating that the prop had been revolving when the Lancastrian plowed into the Tupungato glacier. The investigators concluded that the aircraft had not stalled. The unit had to finish quickly. The site had been difficult to reach. The trekkers had abandoned their pack mules lower down, and ascended with what they could carry. It was hard work at this elevation, and the Army had supplies for only thirty-six hours.
The article goes on to describe the flight, and error in calculations that led the pilots to believe they had crossed the Andes Mountains after ascending into the Gulf Stream at an altitude of 24,000ft to avoid bad weather.
The pilots descended, and soon found themselves rudely confronted with a mountain that they thought shouldn't be there.
All of this seems quite reasonable, but the last part of the puzzle has remained unsolved. (A chart showing Morse code might help readers verify the findings in this essay.) STENDEC is not a foreign word, or a piece of equipment. The radio operator in Santiago described the message as coming in “loud and clear,” adding only that it had been given out very quickly. In 1948 another wireless operator found that by altering the spacing between the symbols for S-T-E-N-D-E-C, one gets E-T-A-L-A-T-E, a common message: / . / - / . - / . - - . / - / . /. That may work with English or Spanish letters, but the Morse is not at all similar.
Thus, the pilots made a mistake, tapped some morse code indicating ETA LATE since they were going to be late, and soon afterwards made the fatal mistake of crashing into the side of the mountain.
The article goes into quite a bit more depth and detail in describing the passengers, the crew, the crew's experience, weather conditions, technical details of the plane, and other such.
It's a pretty good read.
I'm a little sad a search brought this up so quickly, and the mystery seems pretty thoroughly solved.
Once again, here's the Full article with tons of details and explanations:
STENDEC Solved - North Texas Skeptic Dec. 2010
edit on 6-2-2012 by nineix because: (no reason given)
