---
title: "Flight 980: The Mystery of the Missing Blackbox"
description: "The baffling story of Eastern Airlines Flight 980, which crashed into Mount Illimani in 1985. Despite suspicious recovery efforts, no bodies were found and the crucial black boxes remain missing—though smuggled caiman skins were recovered in abundance."
url: https://decodingtheunknown.pub/article/flight-980-mystery-missing-blackbox.md
canonical: https://decodingtheunknown.pub/article/flight-980-mystery-missing-blackbox
datePublished: 2026-06-16
dateModified: 2026-06-16
author:
  - name: Simon Whistler
    url: https://decodingtheunknown.pub/author/simon-whistler
publisher: Decoding the Unknown
image: "https://media.decodingtheunknown.pub/cdn-cgi/image/width=1600,height=900,fit=cover,quality=80,format=auto/articles/Wc8NY1s51W8/hero.jpg"
type: Article
contentHash: 5e74e88377ad43d7caf29e04c5de6a69edfdf4a189bc2de20745358963ef9666
tokens: 63
summaryUrl: https://decodingtheunknown.pub/article/flight-980-mystery-missing-blackbox.md.summary.md
---

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The baffling story of Eastern Airlines Flight 980, which crashed into Mount Illimani in 1985. Despite suspicious recovery efforts, no bodies were found and the crucial black boxes remain missing—though smuggled caiman skins were recovered in abundance.
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