Dan outlined nearly everything we saw on the debris field, but I wanted to quickly elaborate on one especially strange finding that we found literally everywhere we stepped. Ray Valdés, who mounted an early expedition to the crash site, reported seeing the same thing.

Crocodile skins

Pieces of snake/alligator/crocodile skins are scattered all over the mountain. In picking up a plane part for a closer look, often there would be crocodile hide on or near the part. They are in such abundance that we actually became quite sick of them as we combed the field for the black box.

After some research, it’s very likely that these hides belong to the Yacare caiman. Once one of the most common crocodillians in South America, this poor lizard was hunted right onto the endangered species list in the 70s and 80s.

This meant that under CITES regulations, trade in caiman skins was extremely tightly regulated or entirely illegal depending on country.

Flight 980 departed from Paraguay on January 1 with only 29 passengers and crew. However it’s possible that the empty seats were being paid for many times over by what was in the cargo bay. In 1985 Eastern Airlines had already been indicted for involvement in cocaine trafficking on its South American routes. Smuggling lizard hides may have been viewed as less risky.

Paraguayan noncompliance with these international trade restrictions are well known. In the mid-80s, Paraguay was the global leader in caiman skin exports, relying entirely on (illegal) wild-caught rather than farmed crocs.

Paraguay exports a market leading share of caiman skins…

Global exports of caiman skins also peaked in 1985 before declining precipitously, due to a combination of trade restrictions and changing fashion trends.

Caiman skins dominated the croc leather market in the mid-80s

The Paraguay-Bolivia-Miami route could have been especially conducive to transporting illicit good. Inspectors in Miami would be less likely to carefully search for Paraguayan-specific illegal goods on a flight from Bolivia.

I have spent some time trying to estimate the value a large shipment of croc skins. Estimating a price point between 40-97 USD per skin, and a weight of 0.25 kg per skin, the value of a shipment in 1980s dollars would be between $500,000-$1,000,000. Maybe significantly more depending on shipment size and whatever premium the buyer might be willing to pay.

While we don’t think this is the sole reason for the bungling of the investigation immediately following the crash (10 months before an expedition was mounted!), these illegal animal skins are part of a larger pattern of smuggling illegal goods on Eastern Airlines commercial flights. Someone in the organization was making money on these sketchy practices. If some of this money found its way to the right pockets, it would been easy to delay the appropriate investigational response until many feet of snow/ice covered the crash site.