'Alive' survivors remember resorting to cannibalism 50 years after crash The reporters clamored to interview Parrado and Canessa about the crash and their survival ordeal. Eduardo Strauch survived the 1972 Andes plane crash of the Uruguayan rugby team. I am Uruguayan. [13], The official investigation concluded that the crash was caused by controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error. Members of the "Old Christians" rugby team stand near the fuselage of their Uruguayan Air Force F-227 plane two months after it crashed while ferrying them to a match in Chile. The front portion of the fuselage flew straight through the air before sliding down the steep glacier at 350km/h (220mph) like a high-speed toboggan and descended about 725 metres (2,379ft). Among those who Parrado helped rescue was Gustavo Zerbino, 72 days trapped on the mountain, and who 43 years later is now watching his nephew Jorge turn out for Uruguay at this World Cup. News. She had strong religious convictions, and only reluctantly agreed to partake of the flesh after she was told to view it as "like Holy Communion". On this flight he was training co-pilot Lagurara, who was at the controls. Had we turned into brute savages? In the plane there are still 14 injured people. The passengers decided that a few members would seek help. From there, travelers ride on horseback, though some choose to walk. Pilot Ferradas had flown across the Andes 29 times previously. [29] They thought they would reach the peak in one day. A valley at the base of the mountain they stood on wound its way towards the peaks. Andes Tragedy: 50 years after the plane crash its film will have on [49] Sergio Cataln died on 11 February 2020[50] at the age of 91. They were running out of food, so Vizintn agreed to return to the crash site leaving his remaining portions to the other two. It is south of the 4,650 metres (15,260ft) high Mount Seler, the mountain they later climbed and which Nando Parrado named after his father. The courage of this one boy prevented a flood of total despair. Consequently, the survivors had to sustain life with rations found in the wreckage after the plane had crashed. A half century after their plane crashed into the Andes, the survivors who resorted to cannibalism to stay alive came together this week in Uruguay to remember their grisly ordeal. He compared their actions to that of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, during which he gave his disciples the Eucharist. [16] The remaining 27 faced severe difficulties surviving the nights when temperatures dropped to 30C (22F). It was very difficult because the weather was very cold. And all that with only human flesh to sustain them. Both of Arturo Nogueira's legs were broken in several places. As they flew through the Andes, clouds obscured the mountains. Their story became the basis of a best-selling book and Hollywood film. Others justified it according to a Bible verse found in John 15:13: 'No man hath greater love than this: that he lay down his life for his friends. But it didn't. Four-wheel drive vehicles transport travelers from the village of El Sosneado to Puesto Araya, near the abandoned Hotel Termas del Sosneado. Instead, it was customary for this type of aircraft to fly a longer 600-kilometre (370mi), 90-minute U-shaped route[2] from Mendoza south to Malarge using the A7 airway (known today as UW44). I get used to. Canessa, Parrado, and Vizintn were among the strongest boys and were allocated larger rations of food and the warmest clothes. Potter's 600m problem, The amazing survival story of a Uruguayan rugby team in 1972. [18] All had lived near the sea; some of the team members had never seen snow before, and none had experience at high altitude. [45][46], The crash location attracts hundreds of people from all over the world who pay tribute to the victims and survivors and learn about how they survived. The last eight survivors of the Uruguayan Air Force plane crash in the Andes in South America, huddle together in the craft's fuselage on their final night before rescue on Dec. 22, 1972.. We have just some chocolates and biscuits for 29 people, so we start getting very weak immediately. He then rode on horseback westward for 10 hours to bring help. And that first night was really impossible to describe. [17] Since the plane crash, Canessa had lost almost half of his body weight, about 44 kilograms (97lb). It filled the fuselage and killed eight people: Enrique Platero, Liliana Methol, Gustavo Nicolich, Daniel Maspons, Juan Menendez, Diego Storm, Carlos Roque, and Marcelo Perez. We have to melt snow. At times I was tempted to fictionalize certain parts of the story because this might have added to their dramatic impact but in the end I decided that the bare facts were sufficient to sustain the narrativewhen I returned in October 1973 to show them the manuscript of this book, some of them were disappointed by my presentation of their story. Vizintn and Parrado rejoined Canessa where they had slept the night before. 'Alive' plane crash survivors, rescuer reunite - NBC News [32][26], When the news broke out that people had survived the crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, the story of the passengers' survival after 72 days drew international attention. We ripped open seat cushions hoping to find straw, but found only inedible upholstery foam Again and again, I came to the same conclusion: unless we wanted to eat the clothes we were wearing, there was nothing here but aluminum, plastic, ice, and rock. During the days following the crash, they divided this into small amounts to make their meager supply last as long as possible. [4], The last remaining survivors were rescued on 23 December 1972, more than two months after the crash. A Plane Carrying 45 People Crashed In The Andes - All That's Interesting [15][16], At least four died from the impact of the fuselage hitting the snow bank, which ripped the remaining seats from their anchors and hurled them to the front of the plane: team physician Dr. Francisco Nicola and his wife Esther Nicola; Eugenia Parrado and Fernando Vazquez (medical student). Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors - Wikipedia Members of a college rugby team and their relatives on Uruguayan Air Force flight 571 were travelling from Uruguay's capital Montevideo to Santiago, Chile, for a rugby game. On that morning conditions over the Andes had not improved but changes were expected by the early afternoon. Parrado lost more than seven stones (44kg) along the way, approaching half of his body weight. England take on Uruguay in their final Rugby World Cup match this evening. [15], They continued east the next morning. Andes plane crash survivors mark 40th anniversary with rugby game It was Friday, October 13, 1972, and the Uruguayan Air Force Fairchild F-227 had crashed into a glacial valley high in the Andes. Survivors of a plane crash were forced to eat their dead friends in a harrowing story that sounds too unbelievable to be true. Eduardo Strauch later mentioned in his book Out of the Silence that the bottom half of the fuselage, which was covered in snow and untouched by the fire, was still there during his first visit in 1995. [2] Club president Daniel Juan chartered a Uruguayan Air Force twin turboprop Fairchild FH-227D to fly the team over the Andes to Santiago. The 10th, and everything behind him had disappeared into oblivion on the other side of the mountain. The accident and subsequent survival became known as the Andes flight disaster ( Tragedia de los Andes) and the Miracle of the Andes ( Milagro de los Andes ). The amazing survival story of a Uruguayan rugby team in 1972 Eating human flesh doesnt taste like anything, really, said fellow survivor Carlitos Paez, the son of an Uruguayan artist. "It's something that very few people experience." The book inspired the song "The Plot Sickens" on the album Every Trick in the Book by the American metalcore band Ice Nine Kills. [4] He heard the news that the search was cancelled on their 11th day on the mountain. [43], In 1973, mothers of 11 young people who died in the plane crash founded the Our Children Library in Uruguay to promote reading and teaching. STRAUCH: Yeah. Survivors made several brief expeditions in the immediate vicinity of the aircraft in the first few weeks after the crash, but they found that altitude sickness, dehydration, snow blindness, malnourishment, and the extreme cold during the nights made traveling any significant distance an impossible task.[7]. He has made them human. It had its wings ripped off on impact, leading to the immediate death of 12 passengers and crew. Rugby Union We worked as a team, a rugby team, there was never a fight. [2] He asked one of the passengers to find his pistol and shoot him, but the passenger declined. Uruguayan Flight 571 was set to take a team of amateur rugby players and. The story of the 16 survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which was chartered to take an amateur rugby team from Montevideo to Santiago, Chile, in 1972 was immortalized in the best-selling book, Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read. Eduardo Strauch recalls eating friends after plane crash - New York Post It was Friday the 13th of October in 1972 when an Uruguayan aircraft carrying the Old Christians rugby team and their friends and family went down in the mountains in Argentina, near the border . Witness accounts and evidence at the scene indicated the plane struck the mountain either two or three times. [17], It was still bitterly cold, but the sleeping bag allowed them to live through the nights. Fito Strauch devised a way to obtain water in freezing conditions by using sheet metal from under the seats and placing snow on it. The rescuers believed that no one could have survived the crash. That must have been devastating. The flight was carrying 45 passengers and crew, including 19 members of the Old Christians Club rugby union team, along with their families, supporters, and friends. Some evidence indicates it was thrown back with such force that it tore off the vertical stabilizer and the tail-cone. On the afternoon of October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 begins its descent toward Santiago, Chile, too early and crashes high in the Andes Mountains. Of the 45 passengers aboard, 16 survived by feeding on dead family members and friends preserved in the snow. [26], It was now apparent that the only way out was to climb over the mountains to the west. We have to get out from here quickly and we don't know how. [2] Close to the grave, they built a simple stone altar and staked an orange iron cross on it. Dnde estamos?English: I come from a plane that fell in the mountains. Among those survivors was a young architect named Eduardo Strauch, who held off writing about the tragedy until now. And they continue living. Cataln threw bread to the men across the river. Truly, we were pushing the limits of our fear. In 1972, a charter jet carrying a Uruguayan rugby team across the Andes mountains crashed, eventually killing 29 of the 45 people on board. Parrado ate a single chocolate-covered peanut over three days. By anyone, in fact, whose business it is to prepare men for adversity. [English: The world to its Uruguayan brothersClose, oh God, to you], They doused the remains of the fuselage in gasoline and set it alight. [20], The group survived by collectively deciding to eat flesh from the bodies of their dead comrades. STRAUCH: Yeah.