Miracle Of Andes : Story Of Flight Fairchild FH-227D
The Flight That Never Landed
On October 12, 1972, a Fairchild FH-227D aircraft took off from Montevideo, Uruguay, carrying 45 passengers and crew. Among them were members of the Old Christians Club, a Uruguayan rugby team, along with their friends and family. They were headed to Santiago, Chile, for a match.
The flight was supposed to be a routine trip across the Andes Mountains, but bad weather forced them to land in Mendoza, Argentina, for the night. The next day, October 13, the plane took off again, following a path that should have taken them safely over the mountains. However, the pilots miscalculated their location due to low visibility and navigational errors. Believing they had already crossed the mountains, they began descending—too soon.
Suddenly, disaster struck. The aircraft’s tail clipped a ridge, tearing off the back of the plane and sending it tumbling down into a snowy valley at an altitude of about 12,000 feet. Several passengers died instantly, including both pilots. The rest found themselves stranded in one of the most hostile environments on Earth.
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Surviving the First Night
The survivors—many of them injured—huddled together in the wreckage of the fuselage, using whatever they could find for warmth. The freezing temperatures at night dropped below -30°C (-22°F), and their clothing was not made for such extreme conditions.
Their food supply was meager: a few chocolate bars, some wine, and crackers. They rationed it carefully, but they knew it would not last.
The next day, they tried to search for signs of life, but all they saw were endless mountains and snow. They used whatever remained of the plane to create makeshift shelters and worked to keep their injured teammates alive.
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Hope Fades: The Radio Announcement
Days passed, and the survivors held on to the hope that rescuers would find them. Then, on October 17, they managed to repair a small radio and listened to a devastating broadcast: the search for them had been called off.
At that moment, reality set in—they were truly alone. No one was coming. If they wanted to survive, they had to save themselves.
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The Impossible Decision
With their food completely gone, the group faced an unthinkable decision. Starvation was killing them slowly, and they had no animals or plants to eat. Desperation forced them to consider something horrifying: eating the flesh of their deceased friends.
It was a painful moral dilemma, but they ultimately decided that survival was the priority. They saw it not as an act of betrayal but as an ultimate sacrifice from those who had died. Reluctantly, they did what was necessary to stay alive.
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The Avalanche
Just as they were adapting to their grim reality, tragedy struck again. On the night of October 29, an avalanche buried the wreckage, trapping many of them inside. Eight people suffocated under the snow.
Now, with even fewer survivors and their shelter destroyed, the situation became more desperate than ever.
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The Trek for Rescue
By December, two months after the crash, the survivors knew they couldn’t last much longer. Three of the strongest men—Nando Parrado, Roberto Canessa, and Antonio VizintÃn—decided to attempt an escape.
Wearing makeshift snowshoes and carrying only a small amount of human flesh for sustenance, they set off into the mountains, hoping to find help. The journey was brutal.
After three days, they realized the mountains were far larger than they had thought. VizintÃn returned to the crash site, but Parrado and Canessa continued. For over ten days, they climbed through snow and ice, suffering from frostbite, exhaustion, and hunger.
Finally, on December 20, they spotted a river and, beyond it, signs of human life. They saw a Chilean farmer across the river and desperately called out for help. The man, stunned by their appearance, threw them bread and signaled that he would return.
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The Rescue
The farmer alerted authorities, and soon, helicopters were sent to find the remaining survivors. On December 23, after 72 days in the mountains, the rescue team reached the crash site and saved the remaining 14 survivors.
The world was shocked by their story of endurance, resilience, and the unthinkable measures they took to survive.
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Aftermath and Legacy
The survivors struggled with guilt and trauma but ultimately shared their story openly. Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa became motivational speakers, and their experience was later told in books and films, including the famous movie Alive (1993).
Their ordeal remains one of the most incredible survival stories in history, proving the strength of the human will to live against impossible odds.
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