The Andes Flight Disaster (Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571)

The Andes Flight Disaster (Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571)

Date: October 13, 1972

Key Characters:

Fernando "Nando" Parrado (rugby player and survivor)

Roberto Canessa (medical student and survivor)

Marcelo Pérez (co-pilot, perished)

45 total passengers and crew, including members of the Old Christians rugby team

Story Summary:

A Fairchild FH‑227D, chartered by the Uruguayan Air Force, was carrying a rugby team from Montevideo to Santiago when it crashed high in the Andes due to navigational errors and poor weather. The plane clipped a mountain peak and disintegrated. Twelve people died on impact.

Survivors, stranded in the freezing wilderness at over 12,000 feet, endured starvation, frostbite, and avalanche danger. With no food and minimal supplies, they were forced to eat the bodies of deceased passengers to survive. They made this harrowing decision after days of debate, deeply tormented but driven by their will to live.

When rescue efforts were called off after eight days, Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa resolved to hike out of the mountains for help. They made a 10-day journey across snowbound peaks with barely any gear, suffering from altitude sickness and exhaustion.

On the tenth day, they encountered a Chilean shepherd, Sergio Catalán, across a river. Unable to cross, Catalán returned with help. Helicopters soon arrived and rescued the remaining 14 survivors on December 23—72 days after the crash.

The story shocked the world but inspired admiration for the group’s resilience, cooperation, and resolve. Later, survivors told their stories through interviews, books, and the movie Alive (1993), which dramatized their ordeal.

Themes: Survival against nature, moral dilemmas, extreme leadership, and the will to endure.

Reference:

Alive by Piers Paul Read (1974)

Interviews with survivors, especially Parrado and Canessa

Uruguayan Air Force crash investigation reports