South Jason Island

South Jason
Islas las Llaves
Island
Coordinates: 51°12′14″S 60°52′59″W / 51.204°S 60.883°W / -51.204; -60.883Coordinates: 51°12′14″S 60°52′59″W / 51.204°S 60.883°W / -51.204; -60.883
Country Falkland Islands
Island group Jason Islands
Area
  Total 3.75 km2 (1.45 sq mi)
Time zone FKST (UTC−3)
If shown, area and population ranks are for all islands and all inhabited islands in the Falklands respectively.

South Jason is one of the Jason Islands in the north west Falkland Islands.[1] In Spanish it is considered one of "Islas las Llaves" (eastern, Seal Rocks and North Fur Island).[2] Such a distinction doesn't exist in English between the two groups of the islands.

It is north west of Westpoint Island.

Falklands War

During the Falklands War, two Argentine McDonnell Douglas A-4C Skyhawks crashed on the island on 9 May 1982[3] - both of the pilots - Lt Jorge Casco and Lt Farias - were killed. C313 (Lt Casco's Aircraft) was filmed just before this loss during mid-air refuelling. On 12 January 2001 an EOD team visited the island to dispose of any live ordnance that had become apparent since their last annual visit.

The remains of Lt Casco were not found until after the war at 51°12′23″S 60°53′26″W / 51.20639°S 60.89056°W / -51.20639; -60.89056. He was buried on 7 March 2009[4] in the Argentine Military Cemetery on East Falkland. Casco's family requested that his remains be buried on the Falklands, even after they had been returned to Argentina in July 2008 for DNA testing in order to confirm their identity.

The Jason Islands form part of the Falkland Islands, an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located 300 miles off the coast of Argentina.

References

  1. Strange, Ian (1983) The Falkland Islands
  2. http://www.pcgn.org.uk/Falkland%20Islands-July2006.pdf
  3. SN: C-303 and C-313
  4. "UK military honours for Argentine Pilot". Retrieved 2009-11-09.


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