Santiago - Some of the hundreds of Chileans who went missing during Gen Augusto Pinochet's military regime were dropped, "probably alive," from helicopters into the sea or over the Andes, a retired army colonel said yesterday. Col Olagier Benavente said that at the controls of one of the helicopters was Capt Antonio Palomo, whom he described as former dictator Pinochet's favorite pilot. "Some political prisoners disappeared in the sea and others over the high peaks," of the Andes Mountains, Benavente told Radio Cooperativa. He added chillingly that the prisoners were "probably alive" when they were dropped from the helicopters.