How did athletes spend 72 days in the Andes surviving a plane crash? Without food or hope

The story of the rescue of the Uruguayan rugby players is easily called a miracle by journalists. However, with a more thorough and impartial investigation of events that have long since faded into the past, there is a vague aversion to many moments. And the athletes themselves refuse any interviews – and there is a good and frightening reason for this….

Fatal flight and crash

On October 13, 1972, the Old Cristians Uruguayan rugby team was flying to Santiago. The guys were in a great mood, joking, listening to music. It never occurred to anyone that things would soon change.

When the plane with the athletes disappeared from the radar, people on the ground immediately realized that there had been a disaster in the sky. Later, Uruguayan and Chilean military experts came to an obvious conclusion. A gross fatal mistake was made by the pilot of the plane, which for some unknown reason decided to descend. He was fully confident that he had almost reached Santiago, and did not calculate the altitude. The turboprop transport hit the edge of the tail of the mountain ledge. and the machine plummeted into the Andes.

To some extent, the snow cushioned the impact. The plane raced at breakneck speed for several kilometers until it hit an obstacle. Soon there was only a part of the corroded fuselage, which later served as a shelter for the surviving rugby players.

Consequences of the crash

When the crash immediately killed 12 people, including members of the crew of the airplane. Alas, the fate of five seriously injured also turned out to be sad. They did not survive the freezing night. Two medical students, who had only abrasions and bruises, could not provide them with qualified help.

Snowstorms, bitter cold, ice underfoot – that’s how the Uruguayan rugby players were greeted in the Andes.

In light sports shirts, dressed in summer, the athletes flew to the friendly match as for a walk. And now everything happening around seemed like a bad dream, which with every gust of wind, penetrating to the bones, turned into a harsh reality.

The feeling of hopelessness and horror before the cruel nature was intensified by the terrible picture. The stiffened corpses of dead comrades, with whom they had recently been having fun in the cabin of the airplane, were covered with snow dust right before their eyes.

The savage cold forced the men to somehow shelter themselves from the cold. Any rag, cloth, and even household bags were used. To keep warm on particularly frosty nights (the temperature dropped to minus 40 degrees Celsius), the surviving passengers huddled together. Or slept on each other.

Unfortunately, the athletes were very young. They simply lacked worldly experience. It was quite possible to use the wheels of a crashed airplane for a warming fire. Smoke and fire in this case would have served as a kind of a signal platform, announcing the location of living people in distress.

Failed searches and desperation

Here, too, the unfortunate passengers were given a bearish favor by the Uruguayan government. After the search for the crash site ended in total failure, the authorities rushed to declare all the passengers dead. This news, which the guys heard on the radio, killed their optimism and hope for release from the icy captivity. In the ranks of rugby players appeared confusion.

Once a military helicopter circled above them for a long time. And, apparently, in the snowy desert, none of the pilots could see neither people, nor the wreckage of the plane.

If the athletes fought the cold more or less successfully, they could not cope with the other affliction. Hunger tormented the young bodies. Their food supplies were scarce: cookies and chocolate had long since run out.

Looking for any food in the deserted area, squeezed by mountain cliffs, was useless….

The future Dr. Roberto Canessa, who was only 19 years old at the time, suggested taking a desperate step. In order not to starve to death, one had to eat what one had. The dead would not be offended if the living were saved at their expense. That was Roberto’s reasoning.

Plans had even been hastily made for the food. And perhaps it is not necessary to dwell here on the details, which many will appreciate as sacrilege and mockery of the generally accepted notions of human morality …

One of the surviving rugby players – Jose Inciarti – later hardly admitted: “At first my hands did not obey. But my head forced them. Some took longer. It was difficult to open our mouths and swallow this food. But when we did succeed, we thought we were now saved.”

A snow trap and new challenges

However, the treacherous Andes prepared another death trap for the unfortunate rugby players. An avalanche that came down from the mountains buried eight people underneath.

Now out of 45 passengers and crew members of the plane in the survivors were only 16 young Uruguayans. In this situation, there was only one consolation: a thick cover of snow completely covered the fuselage, under which it was possible to shelter from the icy wind.

Exhausted, exhausted people, stuck among the hated mountains, were already beginning to realize that they were doomed to perish. And inaction only brought the hour of death closer. Many of the rugby players were almost on the verge of madness. So it was decided to set out across the mountains to reach the first human habitation and summon help.

Roberto Canessa, Nando Parrado and Antonio Visintin, who retained more strength, braved the last dash over the pass. Hoping in their hearts that they would be lucky and have a chance to save their comrades.

The miracle of rescue and life after

Antonio got lost in the mountains and turned back, while Roberto and Nando persevered towards their goal. Ten days later they found help. A chance meeting with the Chilean shepherd Sergio Catalan became fateful and happy for all.

Strong and gusty winds for a long time did not allow the helicopters to land to the place of refuge of the rugby players. But still they were rescued. Unfortunately, one of the athletes died already in hospital. Ordinary food had caused him to reject it and he had a heart attack.

The athletes spent 72 days trapped in the snow. They never managed to completely forget everything they had experienced.

Nando Parrado wrote a book about the tragedy. By the way, he became a consultant for the movie “Survive”. His role in the picture was played by the star actor Ethan Hawke.

Roberto Canessa became a cardiologist. He even ran for the presidency of Uruguay. According to him, to survive the tragedy in the Andes helped him to survive the tragedy in the Andes constant thoughts about Laura – his favorite girl. He is married to her and is raising three children.

Antonio Visintin returned to sports. Then, however, abandoned rugby and opened a whole chain of pizzerias in his hometown.

Jose Inciarti has devoted himself to science. He is married with three children. Sometimes Jose meets up with friends with whom he experienced all the horrors of the Andes’ icy nightmare.