Por favor, no podemos ni caminar. [47], In March 2006, the families of those aboard the flight had a black obelisk monument built at the crash site memorializing those who lived and died.[48]. The pilot waited and took off at 2:18p.m. on Friday 13 October from Mendoza. 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). Instead of climbing the ridge to the west which was somewhat lower than the peak, they climbed straight up the steep mountain. Eduardo Strauch survived the 1972 Andes plane crash of the Uruguayan rugby team. Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 - Wikipedia They also built a cross in the snow using luggage, but it was unseen by the search and rescue aircraft. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. [4], The survivors slept a final night in the fuselage with the search and rescue party. The rugby players joked about the turbulence at first, until some passengers saw that the aircraft was very close to the mountain. Photograph. On 26 December, two pictures taken by members of Cuerpo de Socorro Andino (Andean Relief Corps) of a half-eaten human leg were printed on the front page of two Chilean newspapers, El Mercurio and La Tercera de la Hora,[2] who reported that all survivors resorted to cannibalism. The plane slammed into a mountainside in rough weather when the pilot veered off-course. [26], Parrado wore three pairs of jeans and three sweaters over a polo shirt. En el avin quedan 14 personas heridas. Eduardo Strauch survived the 1972 Andes plane crash of the Uruguayan rugby team. When they rested that evening they were very tired, and Canessa seemed unable to proceed further. During the following 72 days, the survivors suffered extreme hardships, including exposure, starvation, and an avalanche, which led to the deaths of thirteen more passengers. The conditions were such that the pair could not reach him, but from afar they heard him say one word: "Tomorrow". [34], Under normal circumstances, the search and rescue team would have brought back the remains of the dead for burial. [4], Thirty-three remained alive, although many were seriously or critically injured, with wounds including broken legs which had resulted from the aircraft's seats collapsing forward against the luggage partition and the pilot's cabin. [17], It was still bitterly cold, but the sleeping bag allowed them to live through the nights. 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 ). They also found the aircraft's two-way radio. This has to go down as one of the greatest tragedies in aviation history, not for the scale of death, but for the hardships some of the survivors came to endure. But after entering severe turbulence, the pilot made a mistake and began descending while they were still over the mountains. Available for both RF and RM licensing. 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.. The remaining passengers resorted to cannibalism. Even just moments after the crash, they had to make difficult decisions. Andes plane crash survivors mark 40th anniversary with rugby game I have a wounded friend up there. Parrado and Canessa hiked for several more days. Andes Tragedy: 50 years after the plane crash its film will have on In a sense, our friends were some of the first organ donors in the world they helped to nourish us and kept us alive., The group made their decision after consuming the food they had on the plane, which included eight chocolate bars, a tin of mussels, three small jars of jam, some almonds and dates and several bottles of wine. The book was published two years after the survivors of the crash were rescued. Parrado finally persuaded Canessa to set out, and joined by Vizintn, the three men took to the mountain on 12 December. The news of their miraculous survival drew world-wide headlines that grew into a media circus. The Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 was the chartered flight of a Fairchild FH-227D from Montevideo, Uruguay to Santiago, Chile, that crashed in the Andes mountains on October 13, 1972. [5][14], The plane fuselage came to rest on a glacier at 344554S 701711W / 34.76500S 70.28639W / -34.76500; -70.28639 at an elevation of 3,570 metres (11,710ft) in the Malarge Department, Mendoza Province. At Planchn Pass, the aircraft still had to travel 6070km (3743mi) to reach Curic. [4], The pilot applied maximum power in an attempt to gain altitude. England take on Uruguay in their final Rugby World Cup match this evening. Im condemned to tell this story for evermore, just like the Beatles always having to sing Yesterday. The group decided to camp that night inside the tail section. Marcelo Perez, captain of the rugby team, assumed leadership.[15][17]. After several days of trying to make the radio work, they gave up and returned to the fuselage with the knowledge that they would have to climb out of the mountains if they were to have any hope of being rescued. As you can imagine, it has been the most awful, terrible days of my life. He has made them human. - those first few days. The weather on 13 October also affected the flight. A few seconds later, Daniel Shaw and Carlos Valeta fell out of the rear fuselage. 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. It was hard to put in your mouth, recalled Sabella, a successful businessman. Or was this the only sane thing to do? We tried to eat strips of leather torn from pieces of luggage, though we knew that the chemicals they'd been treated with would do us more harm than good. The team's. "[16][17], With Perez dead, cousins Eduardo and Fito Strauch and Daniel Fernndez assumed leadership. He set the example by swallowing the first matchstick-sized strip of frozen flesh. Today, we're here to win a game," crash survivor Pedro Algorta, 61, said as he prepared to walk on to the playing field surrounded by the cordillera the jagged mountains that trapped the group. Three passengers, the navigator, and the steward were lost with the tail section. The plane slammed into a mountainside in rough weather when the pilot veered off-course. [3] Two more passengers fell out of the open rear of the fuselage. We needed a way to survive the long nights without freezing, and the quilted batts of insulation we'd taken from the tail section gave us our solution as we brainstormed about the trip, we realized we could sew the patches together to create a large warm quilt. In 1972, a plane carrying young men from a Uruguayan rugby team, crashed high in the Andes. To get there, they needed to fly a small plane over the rugged Andes mountains. I was very young. By complete luck, the plane's wingless descent down into the snowbowl had found the only narrow chute without giant rocks and boulders. He mistakenly believed the aircraft had reached Curic, where the flight would turn to descend into Pudahuel Airport. The arrieros could not imagine that anyone could still be alive. [10] The aircraft's VOR/DME instrument displayed to the pilot a digital reading of the distance to the next radio beacon in Curic. Cundo nos van a buscar arriba? Many of the passengers had compound fractures or had been impaled by pieces . The other passengers were family and friends of the team, as well as the ve crew . And we have no warm clothes (ph), no water. That must have been devastating. "[11], Roberto Canessa later said that he thought the pilot turned north too soon, and began the descent to Santiago while the aircraft was still high in the Andes. They became sicker from eating these. The author comments on this process in the "Acknowledgments" section: I was given a free hand in writing this book by both the publisher and the sixteen survivors. We were 29 people at the first. Fito Strauch devised a way to obtain water in freezing conditions by using sheet metal from under the seats and placing snow on it. STRAUCH: Yeah. In 2007, Chilean arriero Sergio Cataln was interviewed on Chilean television during which he revealed that he had leg (hip) arthrosis. The passengers removed the broken seats and other debris from the aircraft and fashioned a crude shelter. [17], The Chilean Air Search and Rescue Service (SARS) was notified within the hour that the flight was missing. It took him years. Even to us, they were very small pieces of frozen meat. They were abandoned, and in their minds condemned to die. [17][26], They relayed news of the survivors to the Army command in San Fernando, Chile, who contacted the Army in Santiago. Over the years, survivors have published books, been portrayed in films and television productions, and produced an official website about the event. A Uruguayan rugby team crashes in the Andes Mountains and has to survive the extremely cold temperatures and rough climate. They stop overnight on the mountain at El Barroso camp. 'Alive': Uruguay plane crash survivors savour life 50 years on He walked slowly with the aid of a cane and pointed at the sky when helicopters hovered over the field just as they did 40 years ago. Instead, I lasted 72 days. It was never my intention to underestimate these qualities, but perhaps it would be beyond the skill of any writer to express their own appreciation of what they lived through. Then, he followed the river to its junction with Ro Tinguiririca, where after crossing a bridge, he was able to reach the narrow route that linked the village of Puente Negro to the holiday resort of Termas del Flaco. Canessa agreed to go west. Their story became the basis of a best-selling book and Hollywood film. Search efforts were canceled after eight days.[1]. [26], On the third morning of the trek, Canessa stayed at their camp. [4] He heard the news that the search was cancelled on their 11th day on the mountain. How the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 Crash Drove a Rugby Team to They took over harvesting flesh from their deceased friends and distributing it to the others. This edition also has a new subtitle: Sixteen Men, Seventy-two Days, and Insurmountable Odds: The Classic Adventure of Survival in the Andes. Meanwhile, Parrado and Canessa were brought on horseback to Los Maitenes de Curic, where they were fed and allowed to rest. We have to get out from here quickly and we don't know how. Miracle of the Andes: How Survivors of the Flight Disaster - HISTORY [31], Sergio Cataln, a Chilean arriero (muleteer), read the note and gave them a sign that he understood. And that first night was really impossible to describe. Flight 571 plane crash: Survivors made gruesome cannibal pact | news Parrado was sure this was their way out of the mountains. Our minds are amazing. [12][37] The survivors received public backlash initially, but after they explained the pact the survivors had made to sacrifice their flesh if they died to help the others survive, the outcry diminished and the families were more understanding. At Canessa's urging, they waited nearly seven days to allow for higher temperatures. harrowing tale of survivors of an airplane crash. Updated on 13/10/2022 14:00A day like today, 50 years ago, happened [40] The father of one victim had received word from a survivor that his son wished to be buried at home. We worked as a team, a rugby team, there was never a fight. Later on, several others did the same.