Exhausted, they throw a stone across the water to him, with a message scrawled on a piece of paper attached to it, and then began praying while waiting to be rescued," AFP reported. I was an 18-year-old boy, the son of a famous painter who gave us everything. Andes plane crash survivors have no regrets over resorting to So they turned to God. By December 24, rumors are swirling that the men resorted to cannibalism to avoid starving, which is confirmed two days later by the head of the Chilean rescue operation. Of the 45 people aboard the plane, only 16 survived the ordeal. On December 12 almost exactly two months after the accident Canessa and Parrado began to climb the mountains to the west. (Getty Image) Survivors of a plane crash that took place 50 years ago said they "have no regrets" resorting to cannibalism to prevent death long enough to . Pea says that the gully is so steep and narrow that it makes for a spectacularly difficult, unappealing climb; he may have been the first, in fact, to ascend it. When some of the surviving men struggled up the slope, they understood why: What was left of the [plane] could barely be seen an insignificant spot in the white expanse, Strauch writes. When confronted with this photo by his 13 year old son, the man bludgeoned the child to death, decapitated the corpse, and disposed of the body parts in the mountains. Everyone started probing the same idea once their food sources ran out but they were unable to follow through. They describe the scramble to survive at an altitude of nearly 4,000 meters, living in the fuselage and scrounging in the snow for roots and an herb nicknamed "donkey grass" after their food supplies ran out. Its a huge valley surrounded on three sides by massive walls, he says. "Of course, the idea. The survivors had little food and no source of heat in the harsh conditions at over 3,600 metres (11,800 ft) altitude. Strauch was one of 45 people on a charter flight ferrying an amateur rugby team from Uruguay to Chile on Friday, Oct. 13, 1972. The imposing view Parrado and Roberto Canessa encountered upon climbing the unnamed mountain above the crash site on their 10-day trek across the Cordillera. Their treacherous route took them over the cordillera, the high spine of the Andes. The muleteer arranges for them to be rescued and help also comes quickly for their severely malnourished companions, who are plucked from the mountain by helicopter over two days. Aircraft from Chile, Argentina and Uruguay search for the plane but fail to spot the white fuselage against the snow. Sixteen survivors made the horrific choice to eat dead passengers after Roberto Canessa, a medical student, suggested they eat the bodies of the deceased. Although Santiago lay to the west of Mendoza, the plane was not built to fly higher than approximately 22,500 feet (6,900 meters), so the pilots plotted a course south to the Pass of Planchn, where the aircraft could safely clear the Andes. In fact our altitude was far higher). Strauchs horrifying story of survival in the high Andes was the stuff of gruesome global headlines in 1972. Although there was very little, we rationed what we found equally, and shared the clothes in the luggage between us'. American version of the Mexican film SUPERVIVIENTES DE LOS ANDES, which is based on the true story of the soccer team whose plane crashed in the Andes Mountains and those who survived had to resort to cannibalism in order to live. I had never been cold. Because of the weather, it would take two trips to get everyone home. "When I saw that around the world people were dying from a lack of air, it reminded me of the mountain, when I saw my friends who couldn't breathe anymore, and I said: No, this can't happen to me again," he told AFP. After being asked whether he had come to terms with his memories, he said: 'No, the story doesnt live with me. Eduardo Strauch's tattered wallet. Carrying a little bit of our friends in body and soul is an honor that I would have felt if I had died: that they would have used me to live, Pez says, when he explains how he addresses the subject in his public lectures. Sixteen survivors of the 1972 plane crash over the Andes meet 08 October 2002 in Montevideo. (Parrado tried in 1997, but his party failed and had to call in rescue helicopters.) Under normal circumstances, the search and rescue team would have brought back the remains of the dead for burial. The rugby players joked about the turbulence at first, until some passengers saw that the aircraft was very close to the mountain. Ramon Sabella, 70, held one of the dying passengers in his arms as she died. Half-a-century after the tragedy, both still speak openly about how after several days they ate some of the remains of fellow passengers. I had never been hungry. How Charles Mystery of Gina Lollobrigida's missing 9 million: Battle for Italian sex symbol's fortune takes a new twist as Four-year-old girl is 'assaulted by drunk man outside Tesco'. We have to get out of here quickly, and we don't know how. After some strong turbulence, one of the wings clipped a peak creating an explosion. AP Survivors of the plane crash walk away from the wreckage towards rescue helicopters. The bodies of our friends and teammates, preserved outside in the snow and ice, contained vital, life-giving protein that could help us survive. Andes plane crash survivors forced to eat their dead friends to survive say they 'got used to eating human flesh' Jon Rogers Published: 23:55, 16 Oct 2022 Updated: 0:21, 17 Oct 2022 THE. The comments below have not been moderated, By I hope to go on like this until the day comes when I will make my final visit, Strauch writes. The Fairchild Hiller FH-227D a 50-person American-made aircraft was carrying 40 passengers and five crew members. The Crash. An Arriero transporters who ride mules and told him their story. Hollywood actor Russell Crowe becomes King's unlikely defender amid backlash over 'Homage of PICTURED: Father of Louisiana girl, 6, whose stepmom 'strangled her, stuffed her in chlorine drum and dumped her 'I'm no deadbeat dad!' Miracle of the Andes: How Survivors of the Flight Disaster - History Lunden Roberts bio: what is known about Hunter Bidens baby mama? On December 12, with just 16 people still alive, three expeditionaries set out for help, though one later returned to the wreckage. Pea surveys the scene in far less dire conditions than the survivors endured. Another survivor, Alvaro Mangino, told El Pais that the group had always thought wed tobogganed down the flank of the larger gully. But when told of Peas discovery in the lesser gully, Mangino wasnt entirely surprised: This mountain keeps giving back to us.. Hero NYPD detective Troy Patterson dies after 33 years in a coma following shooting while washing his car during 'Nazi gold' turns out to be a WW2 bullet and a pair of muddy boots: Hunt for lost loot hidden in Dutch village JPMorgan takes control of First Republic's $92 BILLION deposits but not company's $100B corporate debt or 'We're not your enemies!' Roberto and Parrado after being discovered in Chile. But to Strauch, who kept silent about the ordeal for decades after he and 15 others endured 72 days stranded on a glacier, it was a spiritual experience. Survive! Certain that they would be rescued within hours or days, they made quick work of the wine and candy bars they rummaged from the cabin. "Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, also known as the Andes flight disaster, and in South America as Miracle in the Andes (El Milagro de los Andes) was a chartered flight carrying 45 people, including a rugby team, their friends, family and associates that crashed in the Andes on 13 October 1972. 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. Hunger pangs began to dominate. Did the King gift the late Queen's dresser Angela Kelly a house in bid to stop another royal memoir? This is 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, and ended up in tragedy (and miracle). Some commented that they felt like insects among it. They carried the remaining survivors to hospitals in Santiago for evaluation. Eventually, they found a figure in the distance. When the survivors came to a mental discernment, they saw a gigantic landscape wrapped in a ferocious blizzard. Two months later, on December 22, 1972, the world is stunned by news that there are survivors, two of whom, Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa, made it out of the mountains on foot to find help. Gone Girl: Aubrey Sacco's Disappearance Hiking in Nepal, 5 Unexpected Things That Youll Always Find in a Mountain Guides Backpack, Part 2: Injured on Rainier in a Storm, Survival Seemed Impossible, Injured on Rainier in a Storm, Survival Seemed Impossible, Years After My Mentor Died in the Backcountry, I Retraced His Final Footsteps. He had seen us before he thought we were hunting. And our altimeter read only 7,000ft (we later learned this was wrong the needle had gone haywire in the crash. With no food beyond the nibbles they had packed for the short flight, the survivors soon began to debate cannibalizing their dead companions. Photo courtesy of Ricardo Pea. At night, from a distance, they saw the owner: a Chilean mule-driver named Sergio Cataln. Thats not true, because [being a cannibal] means killing another person because you like to eat human flesh. The so-called "Miracle of the Andes" gained global notoriety when the survivors, who were devout Catholics, admitted they had eaten parts of their dead companions' bodies to stay alive. Copyright 2023 IBTimes LLC. And though the Argentine side is somewhat open, it isnt obvious that it would make a good escape route. (The survivors decision to head west, the more treacherous direction, was largely inspired by the copilots dying claim that theyd already flown into Chile. Sixteen young men managed to survive for 72 days, at sub-zero temperatures and with very little food, before two of them found help after a 10-day trek across the mountains in waist-deep snow. The plane crashed into the Andes mountains on Friday 13 October 1972. Heading out the door? But theres another explanation: Over the past three decades, glaciers have been receding worldwide; the World Wildlife Fund estimates that some Andean glaciers have lost 50 percent of their mass. In an e-mail to Pea, Strauch wrote: Ive wanted to express my gratitude. At 18, its very nice to be famous, Pez recalls. Rescue teams stayed with the second group. Semipresencial en Madrid, Espaa, Maestra en 'Data Management' e Innovacin Tecnolgica 100% en lnea. Faced with starvation and radio news reports that the search for them had been abandoned, those who lived fed on the dead passengers who had been preserved in the snow. Also, check out A Tale of Resilience: Poon Lim, the Chinese Sailor who Survived 133 Days Castaway in the Atlantic Ocean. I remember reading that after a couple of hours after this photo was taken the guys started tidying up the crash site, hiding the gore piles. He said: "Of course, the idea of eating human flesh was terrible, repugnant, "It was hard to put in your mouth. Two months later, on December 22, 1972, the world is stunned by news that there are survivors, two of whom, Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa, made it out of the mountains on foot to find help. The ordeal was the basis for a number of books and films, including the best seller Alive (1974) by Piers Paul Read, which was adapted for the big screen in 1993. Unknown was the poor safety records of the company and when the pilots believed they had already passed the Andes, disaster struck. These cookies do not store any personal information. Sixteen young men managed to survive for 72 days, at sub-zero temperatures and with very little food, before two of them found help after a 10 . When the spring thaw arrived, two of the strongest survivors free-climbed up and over the summit to seek help. Since we were carrying trekking poles, he thought they were shotguns. Finally, last winter, after guiding an Aconcagua climb, Pea decided to spend a few extra days in Argentina. You probably know the story of the group of Uruguayan rugby players, family members, and fans whose chartered plane crashed into an unnamed 15,000-foot peak on October 13, 1972. I felt my entire body rejecting that tiny bite a taboo thousands of years old had been crushed in my mouth.. Survivor of 1972 Andes Plane Crash Recalls How Victims Were Forced to Eat Friends' Bodies in New Book 'I Had to Survive'. 'But other days, in those terrible days that we were waiting for them, I [thought] that they were not going to reach any place, so I put my date of dying on December 24th'. A baggage claim tag. I hoped to reach the spot where the plane hit the mountain, he says, and maybe examine Parrado and Canessas route.. The Andes crash and cannibalism tale that stunned the world 50 years The encounter with those objects has been of great significance, and they have made me think and feel many things all over again. But it was Strauchs closing line that revealed Peas own Andean crossingfrom somebody whod been inspired by the tale, to somebody whod become part of the story itself. It would not be until three days before Christmas when the aircraft wreckage was finally found, but how could it possibly contain any survivors? The muleteer arranges for them to be rescued and help also comes quickly for their severely malnourished companions, who are plucked from the mountain by helicopter over two days. ", A glass was used to cut flesh and solace was taken that other people would have done the same if they had survived. Rugby players of Old Christians team from Uruguay stand near the F-227 planes fuselage in December 1972. Trying to reconcile the heroic landscape hed imagined as a youth with what lay before him, Pea found the view beautiful but intimidating. Survive! (1976) - Survive! (1976) - User Reviews - IMDb Recommended Reads: From left to right: Gustavo Zerbino, Eduardo Strauch, Mr Parrado (second right), and Javier Methol. So it would take ten days of intense travelling: over 15 KM, climbing peaks as much as 15,000 feet and in snowshoes made from plane seats as well as sleeping bags made from cabin insulation. IBT Fast Start - Let the best of International News come to you. They were saved! The plane went down in the extreme west of Argentina, about 150 kilometers south of its final destination of Santiago, Chile. On October 13, 1972, a plane carrying an amateur Uruguayan rugby team, along with relatives and supporters, to an away match in Chile crashed in the Andes with 45 people on board. This bothered us because it wasnt true it raised doubts in the minds of the families of the boys who died, Pez told The Washington Post in 1978. After eight days, the search is called off. During this time, several survivors, the expeditionaries, had been surveying the area for an escape route. Cannibalism: Survivor of the 1972 Andes plane crash describes the 'There was no other option if you wanted to stay alive,' said Coche. In addition to club members, friends, family, and others were also on board, having been recruited to help pay the cost of the plane. 'Alive': Uruguay plane crash survivors savor life 50 years on. It was incredible to see my younger self, to see the passport with the text and seals and my name intact, Strauch said. 'Alive' survivors remember resorting to cannibalism 50 years after crash After much deliberation, they came to see the bodies of their friends as proof that God wanted them to live; consuming their flesh, they believed, was a sort of desperate communion. 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