SukritiAlways Upping The Ante
Dan and Isaac were aware that they’re not experts and so they were not yet sure about their decision. But definitely, they were looking for an adventure of a lifetime. They were hoping to bring back the recording box of Flight 980 which could help investigators in solving the mystery of what went wrong with the plane. But what this duo was about to find was completely unexpected.
Thrills Of A Lifetime
None of them was an athlete but certainly, fit enough. Yet, were they fit enough to climb Mt. Illimani? This was yet to be answered. Since the moment they got the idea of bringing back the recordings of Flight 980 back, they both started planning a trip to Bolivia. Their friends and family had their doubts. The duo replaced their doubts with hopes. Dan believed when a man can make it to the moon, then a mountaintop, which is still on the face of Earth, seems accessible.
Farther Than The Moon
As their research initiated they understood why this trek is said to be very different as well as difficult. They could now make sense behind the reasons why the investigation never completed. They also got connected with the friends and family of the people killed in the unfortunate incident and now the urgency to get to the bottom of this mystery rose to a different level.
Operation Thonapa
They named it as operation Thonapa, named after the Incan god of knowledge. It was to find the black box of the Eastern Flight 980, by Dan Futrell and Isaac Stoner. Although its actual color is orange, it is known as the black box, ie, the recording box. Dan and Isaac were to take care of a few things now and get things started.
Into The Nitty Gritty
After googling all the information, meeting with the close ones of the passengers, they read the book, “Final Destination: What really happened to Eastern Airlines” by George Jehn. It was a big help for them as George mentioned all the possible threads because of which the plane might have gone down. There were reasons written behind why the plane was given a dangerous route in spite of the easy routes. It helped them in getting all the things clear, where to search and what to look for.
Training Montage Begins
The time to complete their trek was less and they needed to practice a lot of things. The fact that none of them had done mountain climbing ever before was taken seriously. They started with runs on the steps in the Harvard football stadium. Trust us when we tell you these were no ordinary runs as the two needed to practice to carry heavy weight with them. So they were doing weighted sprints.