Now that I look at it a little more, perhaps the tape is a reel from a VHS cassette.
Greg Feith was the lead investigator on the NTSB expedition to Mount Illimani in 1985. If this latest news story makes it into the media cycle, I would imagine that he will soon weigh in (with a loud necktie) to dispel some of the conspiracy theories bandied about by the Eastern folks.
Maybe Eastern 980 was blown out of the sky as revenge for cocaine smuggling from a rival cartel. Or as a hit on a very early part of Ollie North's Iran/Contra operations. But CFIT in South America seems more likely to me in the absence of more compelling evidence than a former EAL ALPA rep's analysis.
Anecdotally, there were some very mysterious charters on the 727 flown in the mid to late '80's out of Miami by Eastern and Pan Am and on the C-130 by Southern Air Transport. Tales of bullet holes in the fuselage and rifles shipped in 55 gallon oil barrels. Tall tales or covert government operations?