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NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. "I think the greatest sadness I felt in my life was when I had to eat a dead body," said Roberto Canessa, 59, who was a medical student at the time of the crash. They also realized that unless they found a way to survive the freezing temperature of the nights, a trek was impossible. [4], The pilot applied maximum power in an attempt to gain altitude. Those left knew that they would die if they did not find help. 2022-10-13 21:00:26 - Paris/France. "The only reason why we're here alive today is because we had the goal of returning home (Our loved ones) gave us life. GARCIA-NAVARRO: Eduardo Strauch's book, written with Uruguayan author Mireya Soriano, is called "Out Of The Silence.". Pic: Paramount / Touchstone Pictures, The group survived for two and a half months in the Andes, The players were part of the Old Christians rugby team, A 2002 image of Roberto Canessa (R) with Sergio Catalan - who found the men. Sun 14 Oct 2012 09.29 EDT The surviving members of a Uruguayan rugby team have played a match postponed four decades ago when their plane crashed in the Andes, stranding them for 72 days. As he began to descend, the aircraft struck a mountain, shearing off both wings and the tail section. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, 16 survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, Massive wildfires torch Chile, leaving 23 dead, hundreds injured, NYC lawyer, 38, who devoted his life to public service shot dead while vacationing in Chile, Scientists unearth megaraptors, feathered dinosaur fossils in Chile, Chile fires hit port and coastal city, two dead. For 72 days, the world thought they were dead. Four planes searched that afternoon until dark. Inside the crowded aircraft there was silence. Given the cloud cover, the pilots were flying under instrument meteorological conditions at an altitude of 18,000 feet (5,500m) (FL180), and could not visually confirm their location. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. And nearly four and a half decades on, 16 of their number have lived to see Uruguay carry the spirit of the Andes survivors onto the world rugby stage. We knew the answer, but it was too terrible to contemplate. In his memoir, Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home (2006), Nando Parrado wrote about this decision: At high altitude, the body's caloric needs are astronomical we were starving in earnest, with no hope of finding food, but our hunger soon grew so voracious that we searched anyway again and again, we scoured the fuselage in search of crumbs and morsels. After just a few days, we were feeling the sensation of our own bodies consuming themselves just to remain alive. We have been through so much. The news of their miraculous survival drew world-wide headlines that grew into a media circus. On October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 left the city of Mendoza, Argentina carrying the Old Christians Rugby Club of Montevideo, Uruguay to a scheduled game in Santiago, Chile. Thinking he would see the green valleys of Chile to the west, he was stunned to see a vast array of mountain peaks in every direction. "[29] They followed the ridge towards the valley and descended a considerable distance. I tried to enjoy my friend, my dog, my passions, a second at a time," said Parrado, who has since worked as a TV host, race car driver and motivational speaker. "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. 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. The snow that had buried the fuselage gradually melted as summer arrived. The ight carried forty-ve passengers, including f-teen members of the Old Christians Rugby team. [4], On the afternoon of 22 December 1972, the two helicopters carrying search and rescue personnel reached the survivors. His presentation of the story at London's Barbican last week was deeply affecting: a 90-minute monologue about staring death in the face, surviving against all odds and spending the next four decades re-evaluating the true meaning of life and love. Three crew members and nine passengers died immediately; several more died soon afterward due to the frigid temperatures and the severity of their injuries. The rugby players joked about the turbulence at first, until some passengers saw that the aircraft was very close to the mountain. GARCIA-NAVARRO: At one point, you hear on the little radio that you have that the search for you all has been called off. But at the same time, he found that he had grown spiritually during his ordeal in the mountains. [7][3] The aircraft, FAU 571, was four years old and had 792 airframe hours. The news of the missing flight reached Uruguayan media about 6:00p.m. that evening. They felt that the faith and friendship which inspired them in the cordillera do not emerge from these pages. [2], Upon being rescued, the survivors initially explained that they had eaten some cheese and other food they had carried with them, and then local plants and herbs. Keith Mano of The New York Times Book Review gave the book a "rave" review, stating that "Read's style is savage: unliterary, undecorated as a prosecutor's brief." Condemned to die without any hope we transported the rugby feeling to the cold fuselage at 12,000ft.". [4], The Chilean Air Force provided three Bell UH-1 helicopters to assist with the rescue. Canessa agreed to go west. [44][45] Family members of victims of the flight founded Fundacin Viven in 2006 to preserve the legacy of the flight, memory of the victims, and support organ donation. After the initial shock of their plane crashing into the Andes mountains on that fateful Friday the 13th of October 1972, Harley and 31 other survivors found themselves in the pitch dark in minus . The 28 people crammed themselves into the broken fuselage in a space about 2.5 by 3 metres (8ft 2in 9ft 10in). I realized the power of our minds. 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. The Old Christians squared off on Saturday in Santiago against the Old Grangonian, the former Chilean rugby team they were supposed to play back in 1972 when their flight went down. Dnde estamos?English: I come from a plane that fell in the mountains. EFL: Boro, Birmingham, Rotherham lead LIVE! Parrado now sees those who died and gave up their bodies for food as the very first "consent donors", like modern organ donors enabling others to live. After more than two unthinkably. A federal judge and the local mayor intervened to obtain his release, and Echavarren later obtained legal permission to bury his son.[2]. Parrado took the lead and the other two often had to remind him to slow down, although the thin oxygen-poor air made it difficult for all of them. Eduardo Strauch survived the 1972 Andes plane crash of the Uruguayan rugby team. Javier Methol and his wife Liliana, the only surviving female passenger, were the last survivors to eat human flesh. Can you talk a little bit about that? News. A valley at the base of the mountain they stood on wound its way towards the peaks. And after almost 2 1/2 months, the 16 survivors were rescued. The 10th, and everything behind him had disappeared into oblivion on the other side of the mountain. And at the end - absolutely disconnected with the origin of that food. It took him years. The group, all of whom are still alive, get together on the Oct. 13 anniversary of the crash for a mass to remember the 29 friends and crew members who perished in the crash at an altitude of more than 13,000 feet, according to the outlet. The boys, from Uruguay's coast had never seen snow before. They called on the Andes Rescue Group of Chile (CSA). I have a wounded friend up there. GARCIA-NAVARRO: Eduardo, the group of survivors quickly formed a community, sharing tasks, rotating sleeping positions so everyone would get a chance at a more comfortable spot in the wrecked plane. The controller in Santiago, unaware the flight was still over the Andes, authorized him to descend to 11,500 feet (3,500m) (FL115). It had its wings ripped off on impact, leading to the immediate death of 12 passengers and crew. As the weather improved with the arrival of late spring, two survivors, Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa, climbed a 4,650-metre (15,260ft) mountain peak without gear and hiked for 10 days into Chile to seek help, traveling 61 km (38 miles). While others encouraged Parrado, none would volunteer to go with him. Rugby Union [17][26], Gradually, there appeared more and more signs of human presence; first some evidence of camping, and finally on the ninth day, some cows. In those intervening months 13 more of the 29 who made that pact died on the mountain, five from their injuries and eight more in a catastrophic avalanche that buried the stricken fuselage that had become their refuge. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Parrado was lucky. One of the team members, Roy Harley, was an amateur electronics enthusiast, and they recruited his help in the endeavour. [3] Two more passengers fell out of the open rear of the fuselage. It was later made into a Hollywood movie in 1993. Piers Paul Read's book Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors described the moments after this discovery: The others who had clustered around Roy, upon hearing the news, began to sob and pray, all except [Nando] Parrado, who looked calmly up at the mountains which rose to the west. The film explores the true story of the Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes in 1972. Tenemos que salir rpido de aqu y no sabemos cmo. Even just moments after the crash, they had to make difficult decisions. The book was published two years after the survivors of the crash were rescued. [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. [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). Canessa, Parrado, and Vizintn were among the strongest boys and were allocated larger rations of food and the warmest clothes. Flight 571 Plane Crash Survivors Made Gruesome Cannibal Pact News Au Australia S Leading Site. STRAUCH: My body and my mind start expanding in the universe. And we have no warm clothes (ph), no water. Thinking of the suffering that must have caused our families at home made us even more determined to survive, said Sabella. 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. Cataln talked with the other two men, and one of them remembered that several weeks before Carlos Pez's father had asked them if they had heard about the Andes plane crash. Parrado later said, "It was soft and greasy, streaked with blood and bits of wet gristle. One of the propellers sliced through the fuselage as the wing it was attached to was severed. The Fairchild turboprop was grounded in the middle of the Cordillera Occidental, a poorly mapped range almost 100 miles wide and home to Aconcagua, at 22,834 feet the . He also described the book as an important one: Cowardice, selfishness, whatever: their essential heroism can weather Read's objectivity. Carlitos [Pez] took on the challenge. [17][26], They relayed news of the survivors to the Army command in San Fernando, Chile, who contacted the Army in Santiago. Nando Parrado had a skull fracture and remained in a coma for three days. We were absolutely angry. The book inspired the song "The Plot Sickens" on the album Every Trick in the Book by the American metalcore band Ice Nine Kills. GARCIA-NAVARRO: And so two members of the team, dressed in only street clothes, miraculously were able to make it over the mountains and find help. But could we do it? [17], On 12 December 1972, Parrado, Canessa, and Vizintn, lacking mountaineering gear of any kind, began to climb the glacier at 3,570 metres (11,710ft) to the 4,670 metres (15,320ft) peak blocking their way west. We don't have any food. They were treated for a variety of conditions, including altitude sickness, dehydration, frostbite, broken bones, scurvy, and malnutrition. When are you going to come to fetch us? His mother had taught him to sew when he was a boy, and with the needles and thread from the sewing kit found in his mother's cosmetic case, he began to work to speed the progress, Carlitos taught others to sew, and we all took our turns Coche [Inciarte], Gustavo [Zerbino], and Fito [Strauch] turned out to be our best and fastest tailors. "You and I are friends, Nando. By the time he was rescued, there were a mere 37 kilograms on his 5.9-foot frame. They also built a cross in the snow using luggage, but it was unseen by the search and rescue aircraft. Upon returning to the tail, the trio found that the 24-kilogram (53lb) batteries were too heavy to take back to the fuselage, which lay uphill from the tail section. [3], Michel Roger concurs, stating that: "Read has risen above the sensational and managed a book of real and lasting value."[4]. Please, we cannot even walk. He then rode on horseback westward for 10 hours to bring help. They dug a grave about .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}400 to 800m (14 to 12mi) from the aircraft fuselage at a site they thought was safe from avalanches. [22][23], Seventeen days after the crash, near midnight on 29 October, an avalanche struck the aircraft containing the survivors as they slept. 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. [18] All had lived near the sea; some of the team members had never seen snow before, and none had experience at high altitude. 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). The survivors found a small transistor radio jammed between seats on the aircraft, and Roy Harley improvised a very long antenna using electrical cable from the plane. People who are lost in alcohol and drugs - the same. Uruguayan Air Force flight 571, also called Miracle of the Andes or Spanish El Milagro de los Andes, flight of an airplane charted by a Uruguayan amateur rugby team that crashed in the Andes Mountains in Argentina on October 13, 1972, the wreckage of which was not located for more than two months. pp. 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. Pilot Ferradas died instantly when the nose gear compressed the instrument panel against his chest, forcing his head out of the window; co-pilot Lagurara was critically injured and trapped in the crushed cockpit. 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. Marcelo Perez, captain of the rugby team, assumed leadership.[15][17]. Valeta survived his fall, but stumbled down the snow-covered glacier, fell into deep snow, and was asphyxiated. STRAUCH: Absolutely devastating - so we felt abandoned, and we felt so angry with everybody, with - even with our families, with the world, with God, with nature, with everything. The climb was very slow; the survivors at the fuselage watched them climb for three days. He had prearranged with the priest who had buried his son to mark the bag containing his son's remains. Man Utd revive interest in Barcelona star De Jong, Alonso pips Verstappen with Hamilton fourth ahead of thrilling pole fight, Experience live F1 races onboard with any driver in 2023, Papers: Chelsea divided on future of head coach Potter, PL Predictions: Maddison to spark Leicester into life, How Casemiro silenced doubters to become Man Utd cult hero, What is Chelsea's best XI? But this story has endured, and at the time, in the early 70s, became controversial, because of what happened next. We helped many, many cases, and it's really amazing that so much suffering, 47 years later, became something so positive for me and for so many people. Lagurara radioed the Malarge airport with their position and told them they would reach 2,515 metres (8,251ft) high Planchn Pass at 3:21p.m. Planchn Pass is the air traffic control hand-off point from one side of the Andes to the other, with controllers in Mendoza transferring flight tracking duties over to Pudahuel air traffic control in Santiago, Chile. They now used their training to help the injured passengers. [21], After the sleeping bag was completed and Numa Turcatti died, Canessa was still hesitant. The snow had not melted at this time in the southern hemisphere spring; they hoped to find the bodies in December, when the snow melted in the summer. They were actually more than 89km (55mi) to the east, deep in the Andes. Once he held those items in his hands, he felt himself transported back to the mountains. [2] He asked one of the passengers to find his pistol and shoot him, but the passenger declined. The flight time from the pass to Curic is normally 11 minutes, but only three minutes later the pilot told Santiago that they were passing Curic and turning north. The plane, traveling from Uruguay to Chile, went down over the Andes moun-tains after on October 13, 1972. During part of the climb, they sank up to their hips in the snow, which had been softened by the summer sun. By anyone, in fact, whose business it is to prepare men for adversity. The remaining portion of the fuselage slid down a glacier at an estimated 350km/h (220mph) and descended about 725 metres (2,379ft) before crashing into ice and snow. [17] On 21 October, after searching a total of 142 hours and 30 minutes, the searchers concluded that there was no hope and terminated the search. The passengers decided that a few members would seek help. He requested permission from air traffic control to descend. He refused to give up hope. Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 was a chartered flight carrying 45 people, including a rugby union team, their friends, family and associates. The team's. On the second day, Canessa thought he saw a road to the east, and tried to persuade Parrado to head in that direction. Hace 10 das que estamos caminando. [2], The aircraft departed Carrasco International Airport on 12 October 1972, but a storm front over the Andes forced them to stop overnight in Mendoza, Argentina. [21], All of the passengers were Roman Catholic.