BSAA Star Dust Accident - STENDEC

The word STENDEC was reported by the radio operator at Santiago airport as the last word of a "loud and clear" Morse code message, sent "very fast" at 5.41 PM. "ETA SANTIAGO 17.45 HRS STENDEC" was the last of a series of messages transmitted by Star Dust during its flight, reporting its position, altitude, and a revised estimated time of arrival in Santiago of 5.45 PM. The airport radio operator claimed to have requested and received two confirmations of the unfamiliar word STENDEC before contact was lost. This word has still not been definitively explained and has given rise to much speculation—including suggestions (made before the wreckage was finally discovered) that the aircraft and those aboard might have been the victims of a UFO encounter.

One string of theories suggests that the letters in STENDEC were meant to form an acronym, such as "Starting En-Route Descent" or "Severe Turbulence Encountered Now Descending Emergency Crash-Landing". Other hypotheses propose a mishearing of the Morse code by the Santiago operator. It has been suggested, for example, that STENDEC might actually have been STR DEC ("Starting Descent"), since, in Morse Code, EN is · —· and R is ·—·. It has also been observed that STENDEC is an anagram of DESCENT. In the absence of new clues, the meaning of STENDEC is likely to remain a mystery.