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The story of the plane crash in the Andes, 1972

Introduction

On Friday, October 13th, 1972, an Uruguayan airplane (with a rugby team on board) crashed in the Andes.

This was the beginning of one of the most overwhelming stories of survival in human history. At 4000 m above sea level, with neither appropriate clothing nor food; surrounded and trapped in the mountains, they almost died from the extremely low temperatures.

Their very limited provisions quickly ran out. For ten long days they waited to be rescued. Then they heard on a small pocket receiver, that the search had been called off. On the night of day 16 an avalanche hit them, while they were sleeping in the remains of the fuselage, burying them completely and killing eight people. In order to withstand the extreme weather conditions (-30 ºC / -22 ºF) many things were re-invented. For instance: in spite of the low temperatures, they learned how to produce water from snow.

They used the fabric of the seat covers as quilts. The most critical issue was how to face the lack of food. This forced them to make a very tough, difficult and controversial decision. They used the bodies of their dead mates.

After hiking for 10 long and endless days under extreme conditions, two of them came across a cattle drover. His generous attitude put an end to the 72 days of horror, pain, hunger, desperation…

The Museum Andes'72 in Montevideo (Uruguay)

The Museum honors the memory of the 29 Uruguayans who perished in the Andes in 1972, when their airplane crashed on its way from en:Montevideo to en:Santiago de Chile. This exhibition is also dedicated to our 16 fellow countrymen, who “returned to life” after having endured 72 infernal days under the worst imaginable conditions. We render tribute to those who put their lives at risk to save their friends.

See also

• Carlos Páez Rodríguez
• Roberto Canessa
• Nando Parrado