On September 8, 1964, Miguel Lawler Fitzgerald completed the feat of his life: he landed his single-engine Cessna 185 on the Malvina Islands, planted an Argentine flag and left a proclamation claiming national sovereignty. Other pilots who had tried this before had failed. He succeeded, coincidentally, on the day of his 38th birthday. He flew alone, sitting on a fuel tank, with an inflatable boat strapped to his body.
The idea of flying to the islands always appeared in conversations between pilots, like a shared dream. In 1952, two aviators tried it. Fitzgerald knew their story, he knew that they had flown over the islands but were unable to land due to strong wind currents. However, what tormented him most was learning that, when they returned to Comodoro Rivadavia, after seven hours of flight, the pilots were sanctioned: their license was taken away and they were banned from flying for a year.
There was one specific event that pushed Fitzgerald into the adventure: in September 1964, newspapers announced that the United Nations would discuss the decolonization of territories in Latin America in a special session. Fitzgerald, who later confessed that he had been mulling over the idea for more than a decade, thought it was the perfect moment to make his claim.
He was no amateur pilot: in 1962 he set his first personal record by flying solo from New York to Buenos Aires non-stop aboard a single-engine Cessna 210 (260 HP). At that time, not even the major airlines with their impressive fleets were able to make such a journey without stopping.
He named the Cessna that took him to the Malvinas “Luis Vernet” in honour of the first political commander of the islands, prior to the English invasion. He took off on 6 September 1964 from the Monte Grande airfield bound for Trelew. There he refuelled to reach Puerto Madryn, where he spent the night. The next day he advanced through Comodoro Rivadavia heading south, but near Caleta Olivia the engine began to fail. He had to make an “emergency” landing at Pico Trucando to solve a problem with the spark plugs. Once this was resolved, he continued on to Río Gallegos. Only then would the real challenge begin: crossing more than 550 kilometres of a sea of cold and turbulent waters to land on the islands.
To achieve this, he added two extra fuel tanks. This would give him a flight range of 12 hours. In Gallegos, with the complicity of the commander and manager of Austral Ignacio Fernández, he obtained all the technical and meteorological information necessary to reach the Islands. He also coordinated with a radio operator a frequency through which Fitzgerald would announce his position. In the records, the flight destination he declared was Ushuaia.
On the morning of September 8, the Cessna “Luis Vernet” took off for the Malvina Islands. Fitzgerald was flying at 8,000 feet (2,500 meters), beneath an endless blue blanket of icy water. His only company was the plane’s AM radio, which was playing tangos: Mi Buenos Aires Querido and other classics. According to his flight plan, he would arrive at his destination at noon. After three hours and fifteen minutes, he made visual contact with the islands. There were hundreds of islands and islets that formed the archipelago. When he was preparing to land, a thick layer of clouds prevented him from seeing the ground. Since he knew he was near a 600-meter-high hill, he regained altitude and decided to wait until he found a clearing. By radio he notified “the mainland” that he had found what he was looking for and that he was crossing the San Carlos Strait, the channel that separates the Soledad and Gran Malvina islands. After a few minutes, the cloud layer opened and he was able to identify Puerto Stanley (Puerto Argentino), in the northeast of Soledad Island.
Fitzgerald made two turns over the town before landing his plane on a precarious runway that was used for horse racing. Before descending, he made radio contact again to let people know that he had arrived at his destination. Then, without turning off the engine, Fitzgerald got off the plane with an Argentine flag, which was the one used in his house to celebrate on national holidays, and hung it from a fence that he found a few meters from the plane.
A group of Kelpers (the name given by the British to the Malvina Islanders, derived from a common name in the region called “kelp”) who had seen the plane flying over their houses, approached Fitzgerald. They thought he was lost or needed help. The Argentine greeted them and gave them a piece of paper. “Give this to your governor,” he told them.
“To the representative of the English occupying government of the Malvinas Islands. I, Miguel L. Fitzgerald, an Argentine citizen, the only, necessary and sufficient title that I exhibit in fulfillment of a mission that is in the hearts of twenty-two million Argentines, come to the Malvinas Territory to inform you of the irrevocable determination of those who, like me, have decided to put an end to the third English invasion of Argentine territory...” began the text of his proclamation.
Once the letter was delivered, Fitzgerald boarded his plane and took off again towards Río Gallegos. Meanwhile, in Argentina, the newspaper Crónica printed copies with the news: “ MALVINAS, TODAY WERE OCCUPIED.” That day, there was no other talk.
Headline from the newspaper Crónica about Fitzgerald's feat and the pilot's reception in the editorial office alongside Héctor Ricardo García.
In January of this year, it was his son Christian who told how the press found out about his father's arrival in the Malvinas:
-Although my father was a very reserved person and kept his plan completely secret, only my mother, my grandmother and a couple of other people knew about it, before traveling he contacted the press. There was the precedent of those who had gone before and had had their license suspended... and for him flying was his source of income, the only resource he had to feed his family, so he could not afford to lose his license. He also thought about the possibility that the English would stop him or deny that he had arrived at his destination. So my father first went to the newspaper La Razón, but they didn't give it any importance. From there he went to see the owner of the newspaper Crónica, Héctor Ricardo García. When García heard my father, he liked the idea so much that he offered to rent him the plane and pay for the fuel. In addition, he suggested hiring a photographer to accompany him. But my father refused because the trip involved certain risks and, with the extra fuel, there was no more room in the cabin. He wanted his arrival in the Malvinas to be printed in the newspapers, to be news, to avoid unpleasant consequences. As a precaution.
The flight coincided with his 38th birthday. García had sent a journalist to Río Gallegos to let him know when my father arrived in Malvinas. He warned him that if he arrived on September 8th the news could be on the front page, but that he could not guarantee it on the 9th because there was an important football match.
On the afternoon of September 8, 1964, at the Rio Gallegos airport air station; recounting his feat
-What happened when your father landed in Río Gallegos?
-There was a stir. Before leaving for Buenos Aires, the Air Force opened an investigation against him. He made his first stop in Bahía Blanca, where he spent the night, and then he made a stopover in Azul. There he received his first recognition: they gave him a wreath of flowers in the name of the Radical Party, but my father did not accept it. He said that his cause was “national” and continued his trip to the capital.
-How was your arrival in the city of Buenos Aires?
-There was a crowd waiting for him at Aeroparque. “The man from Malvinas,” the media said. When he got off, he hugged Ciro Comi, who had lent him the plane for the trip. He said to him: “Everything is fine, old man. The twenty-two thousand dollars saved!” He was referring to the price of the Cessna. They carried him on their shoulders to a red jeep and paraded him through the city: Figueroa Alcorta Avenue, Retiro, Plaza de Mayo... everyone cheered him on. The caravan ended at the headquarters of the newspaper Crónica. His entire family was waiting for him in the newsroom. It was an important event.
“From 1833 until my flight, there was a long century in which there were only diplomatic writings, surely very well written, but which led to nothing. Mine was something concrete, that is why it stands out. I, in a certain way, have lit the fuse, now it is up to you to continue to fan that flame so that it does not go out... The Malvinas issue is not an economic problem, since a million sheep do not affect us; it is a problem of dignity and we cannot sit idly by when a part of our territory is taken away from us,” said Miguel Fitzgerald in an interview on September 30, 1964.
-Did they finally sanction him?
-No, it had such a repercussion and popular acceptance that he was only warned. Days later, President Arturo Illia invited him to an audience.
-What were the repercussions of the flight?
-My father always said that he achieved what he wanted, that his flight coincided with the date on which the UN was dealing with the Malvinas issue and that it was covered in the media. Following that event, London decided to establish a permanent contingent of Royal Marines on the islands. And until that moment, the Malvinas residents did not know that there was an Argentine claim on the islands.
After that historic flight, Fitzgerald was invited to give talks all over the country. At his home he received hundreds of letters congratulating him for his bravery. Even the author of La Marcha de Malvinas gave him an original score with the dedication: “To Mr. Miguel Fitzgerald, first flag bearer of Las Malvinas. Cordially, the author José Tieri, 12/6/1966.”
After his well-deserved moment of fame, Miguel Fitzgerald returned to his old job: transporting passengers and chartering aircraft from the United States.
Who was Miguel Fitzgerald?
Miguel Fitzgerald was born on September 8, 1926. He was the youngest of two children of an Irish couple who had arrived in the country at the beginning of the last century. He spent part of his childhood in Guaminí, a town located in the west of the province of Buenos Aires. Then, when his father died, he entered the San Cirano school in Buenos Aires as a boarder. Finally, his mother moved to the Federal Capital and Miguel finished high school at the Otto Krause Technical School, where he graduated as a mechanical technician.
Return to Malvinas as a pilot Chronicle
Years after the trip to the Malvinas, Miguel Fitzgerald was hired by Crónica as the newspaper's official pilot. They gave him a Cessna LV-ILU, model U206, with which he took journalists and photographers to do all kinds of coverage. He covered floods, accidents, races, football matches, the death of "Che" Guevara... but perhaps the most significant story for him was his return to the Malvinas Islands.
-In November 1968, Crónica already had a larger plane, an Aerocomander, which is a two-engine plane, and García told my father that he wanted him to take it to the Malvinas to cover the news of a group of British diplomats who would travel to the Islands. The expedition was headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lord Chalfont.
-They left Aeroparque for Río Gallegos, and from there they flew to Malvinas. They installed fuel tanks inside the aircraft to ensure supplies for the return trip. My father, García and the journalist Carlos Nava traveled. When they flew over the islands they discovered that they had put up barricades on the racing track. Evidently, they knew that someone could visit them. Sirens began to sound and two British Navy helicopters forced my father to land.
It was a bit of a mishap, but there were no injuries. When they landed, a group of 60 armed men appeared, surrounded the aircraft and took them into custody. García explained that he had gone as a journalist to interview Lord Chalfont and asked to speak to him, but was unsuccessful. They confiscated his typewriter, camera and other documents. The next day they were put on the Endurance, the British Navy's Antarctic patrol ship, and sent back to Argentina. Their belongings were then returned. The plane was dismantled and sent back via Montevideo.
Miguel Lawler Fitzgerald worked for Hector Ricardo Garcia for a while longer. In his later years, he was the pilot of his private plane. He passed away on November 25, 2010, at the age of 84.
Today, the small Cessna 185 plane in which Miguel Fitzgerald managed to reach the Islands hangs from the ceiling of the Malvinas and South Atlantic Islands Museum.
Fountain:
The Nation
