The Bariloche leg, I believe, took place on 3 Dec. That means that Asuncion, if it takes place today, cannot be Leg 4. If confirmed, it most likely would be the fifth leg. Speculation: fourth leg in Buenos Aires then?
Agreeing with DrRox on the flight Amy was on. If she was in the Asuncion airport headed to Uruguay seven hours ago (it is now 2.30pm in Asuncion), the flight she was taking was probably PU 706 to Montevideo, departing at 9.20am. Asuncion Intl only has one concourse for arriving and departing flights, so it is entirely possible that the crew was waiting for arrivals while Amy was leaving.
5 legs in South America? They must be making up for not going there in a while...
It looks like we won't be seeing much of Europe and/or Asia this season. Africa/Australia ftw!
What about a TBC leg inlcuding Bariloche and Buenos Aires with a 36 hour pitstop before Paraguay? Just an idea?!
ETA: I can't remember, where did the Buenos Aires info come from?
I took a look at flights from Bariloche to Asuncion (on Dec 21st, but I think it would be similar to today) and it looks like there is one short and reasonable option daily. There's a flight that leaves at 2:25 PM and arrives at 9:35 PM after stops in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, Uruguay. Other options take 17 to 22 hours. If the leg in Bariloche ended too late for Phil to catch the 2:25 PM flight, I think they would hold Phil for the flight the next afternoon rather than have him fly for almost 24 hours (especially if the teams can catch the 8 hour flight). That would force them to hold the team for the afternoon after that. That would mean a nearly 48 hour pit stop.
AIRLINE CITY (AIRPORT) ARRIVE DEPART AIRLINE/FLIGHT # STOPS AIRCRAFT TYPE
AERO ARGENTINAS San Carlos DeBariloche (BRC) 2:25 PM AERO ARGENTINAS #2679 0 M88 Jet M88 Jet
Operated by: AU
AERO ARGENTINAS Buenos Aires (AEP)* 4:28 PM 6:10 PM AERO ARGENTINAS #1208 0 735 Jet 735 Jet
PLUNA Montevideo (MVD)* 7:55 PM 8:45 PM PLUNA #705 0 CRJ Jet CRJ Jet
Asuncion (ASU) 9:35 PM
Total Travel Time with Connections: 8h 52m
San Carlos DeBariloche (BRC) 12:55 AM LAN CHILE #4357 0 320 Jet 320 Jet
LAN CHILE Buenos Aires (EZE)* 3:00 AM 6:30 AM LAN CHILE #400 0 318 Jet 318 Jet
LAN CHILE Santiago (SCL)* 8:50 AM 2:30 PM LAN CHILE #5910 0 320 Jet 320 Jet
Asuncion (ASU) 4:40 PM
Total Travel Time with Connections: 20h 25m
San Carlos DeBariloche (BRC) 1:00 PM LAN CHILE #4345 0 320 Jet 320 Jet
TACA AIRLINES Buenos Aires (EZE)* 3:05 PM 6:10 PM TACA AIRLINES #24 0 321 Jet 321 Jet
TACA AIRLINES Lima (LIM)* 8:50 PM 9:50 PM TACA AIRLINES #44 0 319 Jet 319 Jet
Asuncion (ASU) 3:23 AM
Total Travel Time with Connections: 17h 28m
It might be possible that they had a leg in Buenos Aires, but they would still have the issue of only a couple of flights a day out of Bariloche and having a lengthy pit stop to let Phil get there in advance of the teams. Unless we get reports of teams moving through Buenos Aires doing tasks, I'd be inclined to think they were seen at the airport waiting for connecting flights.
I'm thinking back to the list of purported leg locations in the removed Wikipedia article for TAR 16. It's still there if you look in the history of revisions:
* Leg 1 United States → Chile
* Leg 2 Chile
* Leg 3 Chile → Paraguay
* Leg 4 Paraguay → South Africa
* Leg 5 South Africa → Angola
* Leg 6 Angola → Spain
* Leg 7 Spain → Portugal
* Leg 8 Portugal
* Leg 9 Portugal → Belarus
* Leg 10 Belarus → Sri Lanka
* Leg 11 Sri Lanka → People's Republic of China
* Leg 12 People's Republic of China → Canada → United States
I discounted it when I first saw it because I thought it was unlikely they would go to Sri Lanka due to the terrorism issues with the Tamil rebels. However, if you grant that Bariloche is almost in Chile and that they've apparently gone to Paraguay, I'm a little more intrigued. If they go to South Africa next, then I'll really be intrigued. I'd be interested in asking Wikipedia user Masem where he got this list of countries from, but it'll have to wait until later if I'm to do it.
Plaidmoon