The plane crash in Ibiza at las Roques Altes left an unforgettable mark on all who witnessed it. For all of them, the harsh sights they witnessed over those days in January 1972 have left an indelible impression on their lives. To commemorate the fifty-year anniversary of that awful occurrence, Diario de Ibiza contacted numerous people who were first-hand witnesses to the disaster.
Josep Tur ‘Olivar,’ the current head of Civil Protection in Sant Josep, was the first person to arrive at the scene of the accident and discover the deceased. Joan Marí Tur ‘Botja,’ a former island councillor and neighbour in the area, also provides testimony. The now-councilman of Sant Josep Pere Ribas was at the airport that day and was one of the first to hear about the catastrophe, which claimed the lives of several friends. Vicent Marqués, father of filmmaker David Marqués, was scheduled to take that aircraft, but the birth of David, his first child, caused him to postpone his return to Eivissa, saving his life. Finally, ex-military José Guasch Caas, a retired colonel, recalls his efforts coordinating the recovery of the victims’ remains. Unfortunately, his brothe, the then-captain Mariano Guasch Cañas, who was in charge of the rescue efforts on the ground, died on January 3.
The plane crash in Ibiza: on the hill, there was thunder
Josep Tur: “I was in the military service, but I was on leave at the time. We stayed in a family home four kilometres away from ses Roques Altes. I was with my father when we heard thunder, but we had no idea what had happened. Soon after, a neighbour appeared and informed us that it was most likely an aircraft. So I took my father’s Mobilette and set off on my own to see if I could find anything.”
Joan Marí Tur: “I was in Sant Josep, and I wanted to go to Sant Antoni to have a haircut that morning. In the town plaza, I saw a Cala Vedella neighbour who was on his way to the Town Hall and he told me, ‘Joan, a small plane has crashed in Sa Talaia.’ Because our family’s house is so near to the crash scene, I decided to go. I believe I was among the first to arrive.”
“I kept walking, as if hypnotised, until I felt something brush my face. It was human intestines dangling from a tree. I vomited all the way up to my first mush.”
“My father had asthma difficulties, so we had to take him to Barcelona to be checked,” says Pere Ribas. “I accompanied him to the airport to purchase his plane ticket. When we arrived, we discovered a weird atmosphere. It’s tough to explain why everything was frozen. My brother-in-law worked as an Iberia mechanic and informed me that the plane from Valencia had not yet arrived and that contact had been lost. They still thought it had fallen into the sea at the moment. It wasn’t until later that it was discovered that it had collided into ses Roques Altes.”
“I was at home when I heard the news on the radio,” Josep Guasch Cañas explains. “I walked straight to the Sa Coma barracks to await orders. They determined that Captain Roselló, brother of businessman Pepe Roselló, and my brother Mariano, also a captain, would accompany the troops to the area for the rescue work, while I would remain in the barracks coordinating the device.”
“I tried to visit the location with my car early in the afternoon, but the military had already blocked off the area and would not allow me to go up,” P.R. said.
The discovery of the plane crash in Ibiza
J.T.: “The road reached a païssa. There was a weird odour; it was the plane’s gasoline. I got off the motorcycle and began strolling into the forest. I didn’t see a column of smoke, but the scent became stronger as I went closer. The silence was absolute. There was no wind, and the forest was shrouded in a thin fog. Nothing was audible. It was a phantasmagoric setting.”
J.M.T.: “There was some smoke and a strong odour of gasoline. I noticed a smouldering engine part on the left side of the road. I went for a walk in the woods. Nothing was audible. There was no moaning, no crying, nothing.”
J.T. : “I kept walking, as if hypnotised, until I felt something brush my face. It was human intestines dangling from a tree. I vomited all the way up to my first mush.”
J.M.T.: “I started to see bodies, open bellies, and brains scattered amid the suitcases, a mess.”
“Those were days of great emotion. When the funeral was held, all of the coffins were taken to the church of Sant Josep. I recall that most of them had a piece of paper with the words ‘Unidentified’ pinned to them.”
“It was very, very uncomfortable, difficult to convey,” J.T. says. ” I couldn’t walk because I was shaking so much after the experience. I sat on the floor, closed my eyes, and waited for it to pass. I couldn’t even get out of bed. I’m at a loss for words to convey the horror”.
“I went the next day,” J.G.C. says. “There was still the plane’s tail. When we removed it, we discovered a corpse underneath. Human remains were dangling from the trees, and soldiers were picking up pieces of flesh scattered around the forest. It’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
To save one’s life from a plane crash
Vicent Marqués: “We went to Valencia for Christmas and were planning on returning on January 6 or 7 because I needed to address some things at work. The problem is that our son David was born on the 3rd, so we chose to postpone our return for another week. I saw the jet crash on TV in Valencia and always imagined that I could have been on it.”
J.M.T. : “Another person who saved her life in an emergency was Smilja Mihailovic, a promoter of Adlib fashion who was then working with the Fomento del Turismo de Ibiza.” She was on the same flight from Madrid, but when she arrived in Valencia, I’m not sure what occurred, but she got off the plane at the last minute and opted to go to Ibiza in the plane of a friend. That choice saved his life.”
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.