The Survivors of Andes | Miracle of flight 571

October 12, 1972 In South America, a small chartered aircraft departed from Uruguay. Chile’s capital, Santiago, was the destination of this airplane. Several towering, broad rugby guys in tow. In all, forty-five people rode along, including family and friends of some of the players. There wouldn’t be much time on this flight. The average travel time from Uruguay to Santiago is around three hours. However, the massive Andes Mountains are encountered throughout the route.

The longest mountain range in the world is the Andes Mountain Range in South America. Here are the highest mountains, excluding the Himalayan range. For the travelers in our tale, these breathtaking mountains turn deadly. On October 12, there was a storm in the highlands, making it impossible for the plane to continue flying. It was therefore decided by the pilots to abort and try to take off again the next day.

For the night, the aircraft touched down at Mendoza, Argentina. At 2:18 p.m. on October 13, the following day, the aircraft lifted off once more. The pilots made sure the weather had improved. For the next hour, the flight went without a hitch. The pilots begin descending the aircraft at 3:21 p.m. The aircraft was still in the mountains, but it was getting very close to Santiago given that the city is surrounded by tall mountains.

Abruptly there was significant turbulence while falling. The aircraft began to tremble horizontally. Clouds began to collect around the aircraft at this point. All that was in view were the clouds. Abruptly, the plane’s alarms sounded and the warning lights started to strobe. Nobody could figure out why.

There was no fear in the rugby guys seated in the passenger seats. This turbulence was not taken seriously by them. Amidst jests, a traveler noticed the clouds lifting from the window. However, he soon realized that they were dangerously near a mountain. The moment the plane broke through the clouds, the pilots knew they were approaching a massive boulder. They attempt to raise the plane right away in a hurry.

The ground collision warning on the airplane was beeping loudly. Pilots exert all of their power to increase altitude. to safely soar over the mountain. Sadly, though, it was already too late. As the aircraft ascended, the back of it struck the mountain. The whole back half of the aircraft broke away. The back two rows of seats really flew out of the aircraft. With that, three passengers vanished into thin air.

For a few more seconds, the plane continued to climb, but then it began to abruptly descend. After seconds, there’s another crash. The aircraft’s left wing broke off. A few more people were thrown off the aircraft and fell to the ground. The plane crashed onto a glacier, leaving only its front section intact. It down the ice at 350 km/h before crashing 700 meters below the surface.

The plane was completely destroyed. The plane’s base and passenger seats were ripped apart. The pilots perished instantly when the plane’s cockpit was totally crushed. This airplane was lying broken at a height of 3,570 meters atop an unidentified Andean mountain. 33 of the 45 passengers on board were surprisingly still alive. Somehow, they had made it through this crash. The issue was that nobody knew where they were stuck, and a large number of them were hurt. This jet was discovered to be 80 kilometers away from its intended course later on.

Friends, this was just the beginning of this grueling tale of survival. What happened to these survivors after that is beyond what either of those people could have predicted at the time or you can conceive today. This is the poignant account of Flight 571 of the Uruguayan Air Force. In today’s video, let us learn more about it. “A plane went down in the Andes Mountains. There were forty-five people on board. abandoned in favor of d*ad.” “Survival fascinates people.”

“All of the passengers were given up for d*ad.” “It became known as the Miracle of the Andes.” There were two survivors of this collision who weren’t in critical condition. First, there was Gustavo Zerbino, 20, and then there was Roberto Canessa, 19. Given that they were both medical students, they got to work determining who was still alive and how to treat the injured. They observed that numerous people had received serious wounds.

Fernando Parrado, 23, was one of them; he had suffered a fracture to his head and was in a coma. These two medical students gave the survivors their best effort. On the other hand, the Chilean Air Search and Rescue Service was notified an hour after the plane vanished. To find the survivors, four planes were sent out. From twilight till dawn, they searched for the crash site, but sadly, they were unsuccessful.

After listening to the radio messages, the rescue service officers deduced that the aircraft had to have crashed in a remote, unreachable location. The airplane was white in color, and it had crashed in an area covered with white ice and snow. This presented a difficulty. It was really hard to find amid the mountains covered with snow. The passengers that remained on October 13th were full of hope. They were hoping that if they could stay there overnight and manage to get out of the cold, someone would come across them the next day.

That wintry night, five wounded passengers were not going to make it. There were just 28 survivors instead of 33. These survivors made use of the airplane’s wreckage as a makeshift shelter. To keep warm inside, they sealed off the back of the aircraft with seats, luggage, and snow. Eleven aircraft from Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay were deployed in a search and rescue effort on October 14. They selected the appropriate search area. The crash site was located inside that search area.

Rescuers were still unable to locate the crash location, though. The survivors attempted to scrawl an SOS on the plane’s roof using lipstick. They quickly discovered that they had run out of lipstick before they could finish penning all the SOS letters. Then they attempted to form a large cross in the snow with bags so that search planes overhead might see them. However, they quickly saw that this was ineffective.

They observed not one, not two, but three planes flying over them that day. They waved their hands, screamed, and did everything they could to get the airplane to notice them, but to no avail. In this attempt, another day went by. The survivors recognized they needed water to survive the following day, October 15. Fito Strauch, a traveler, managed to obtain water. In order to concentrate sunlight and melt the snow, he utilized a metal sheet as a solar collector.

Additionally, he filled empty wine bottles with water droplets. In addition, a lot of travelers used the wool in the seat coverings as insulation against the cold and the cushions as snowshoes. Three days after the collision, on October 16, Fernando Parrado emerged from his coma. Upon regaining consciousness, he discovered that his 19-year-old sister had suffered serious injuries and that his mother had died in the collision. Parrado brought food and drink for his sister in an effort to keep her alive.

However, eight days after the collision, his sister passed away from her wounds. These mishaps serve as a constant reminder of how unpredictable and precarious life is. How long we shall live is unknown. For this reason, it’s stated to “live every moment.” Live each day to the fullest and cherish every minute as you never know when tomorrow may arrive.

The majority of the travelers were from coastal regions. They had never seen snow before. And all of a sudden, they were managing to survive in the -30°C weather, at such a great altitude, without adequate food or drink. There was another issue in these unfavorable circumstances. blinding from the snow. Your eyes may suffer damage when the sun’s UV rays reflect off of the snow and ice in the mountains. We refer to this as snow blindness. There were just three pairs of sunglasses among the survivors.

Eight days after the disaster, on October 21, search and rescue crews called it quits. They thought there was no use in carrying on the search as they were unable to locate any survivors throughout those eight days. After so many days, there was almost little likelihood that anyone could have lived. Thus, the search was formally terminated after 142 hours of work. A transistor radio was discovered by the survivors in the midst of the aircraft’s seats.

Roy Harley was a rugby player who had survived and also had a passion for electronics. He then attempted to turn on the radio. He just created a long antennae on the spot. And as a result of his efforts, the radio eventually began to function. There was just one way communication on this radio. Though they were unable to communicate, the survivors could still hear things. Eleven days after the disaster, they heard that the search operation had been called off when they switched on the radio.

Their hearts were shattered beyond repair. Some receive this news and burst into tears. A few folks joined hands and began to pray to God. “Feeling that their world is alive and they consider you dead.” The only person who did not respond much to this news was Fernando Parrado. since he had another idea in mind. The survivors were running low on food by the eleventh day. To start, they didn’t have much. Just eight chocolate bars, a tin of mussels, three tiny jam jars, and one almond jar were present. Several wine bottles, a box of peanuts, dates, candy, and dried plums.

Food was rationed a few days following the catastrophe. Every day they ate very little. Parrado consumed a peanut wrapped in chocolate for three days. Only one peanut. However, rationing was insufficient. when the food was about to run out. At 3,800 meters above sea level, there were no trees, vegetation, or animals that could be slaughtered and eaten. When the food ran out entirely on the eleventh day, some people attempted to consume bits of the aircraft. They experimented with consuming the leather and cotton upholstery.

However, this only made them sicker. When faced with starvation or death, these survivors took an extraordinary action that will astound you. They came to the conclusion that eating their friends’ and relatives’ d*ad bodies was their last chance of survival. Making the decision was not simple. because friends, classmates, family members, or relatives made up the majority of those who were killed in this crash.

“We must eat. and the only likely objects were the deceased bodies of the individuals on this plane.” Canessa was the first to try this notion since he came up with it. Others attempted, but were unsuccessful. Back then, they declined. But after two days, they were left with no choice and ultimately decided to eat human flesh.

Sixteen days after the disaster, on October 29, the survivors were also running quickly out of this food source. They didn’t know what to do. Nobody understood how to proceed next. It could not have come at a worse time. Then, though, they heard a loud complaint that evening. It was an avalanche, as it turned out. A huge quantity of snow was falling from the peak of the mountain so quickly that it covered the damaged plane in snow.

Eight people suffocated after being lost in the snow. There were only 19 survivors left. Ted, Roberto, you succeeded. You will definitely die. And that’s it. I was urinating on myself and telling myself that was it, so I felt a really pleasant warmth between my legs.” The remaining nineteen individuals were likewise confined to a tiny area beneath the snow. Parrado plowed a hole in the snow with a metal rod to provide some airflow.

They trudged down a tunnel under the snow for two days, and after much effort, they eventually reached the surface. They knew as soon as they were outside that a snowstorm was approaching and that it would be wise to return to the snow cave in order to live. The remaining survivors managed to stay in the little space for the following three days. When they returned to the surface three days later, the sky was clear.

The survivors discovered that nobody was coming to save them after emerging. They would have to work for themselves if they were going to survive. Waiting for assistance while seated at the crash site was pointless. They had to give it everything they had till they were dying. Vizintin, Parrado, and Canessa were some of the most resilient ones. Together, they made the decision to provide them with more food and warm clothing as they attempted to search for assistance by walking around.

The location estimation was the initial task. The co-pilot said that their plane had flown through Curico before to the crash. They calculated that they would undoubtedly arrive at some Chilean farmland if they strolled a few kilometers west. However, their estimate was wildly inaccurate. To be honest, the co-pilot had no idea where he was taking the aircraft. Their crash site was really in the heart of the Andes highlands, 89 kilometers east.

Despite this, they took a few days off to replenish their energy. Thirty-three days after the crash, on November 15, these three people went looking for assistance. They found the rear section of their airplane after hours of flying east. It was the section of the aircraft that had fractured initially. Numerous suitcases, chocolate boxes, three beef patties, a bottle of rum, additional clothing, comic books, and various medications were discovered inside.

They also discovered the aircraft’s two-way radio system. A radio that has the ability to transmit messages as well as receive them. So, decision was made to stay the night there. They walked a little further east on the expedition’s second day, but after talking it over, they decide that they ought to try turning on the aircraft’s radio. Three of them agreed on a decision to try starting the radio after removing several batteries from the aircraft’s main body.

They would have the ability to make an SOS call. The tail part included 24 kg of batteries, but it was incredibly heavy. It was too heavy for them to move back to the main body crash site. They made the decision to attempt turning it on there and then. They turned around and enlisted Roy Harley’s assistance, as he possessed some electronics knowledge, but sadly, this strategy failed. The issue was that the aircraft’s battery was 24 volt DC, but the electrical system ran on 115 volt AC. They lacked the tools to link them. For a few days, they made every effort to turn on the radio, but they quickly discovered there was no other option.

They now had to begin going westward in order to survive.

An avalanche struck on December 11, 59 days after the incident. Within it, three more survivors were killed. “The avalanche and storm completely ensnared me, and the silence was unbelievably deafening.” I was immobile.”There were only sixteen left. They wanted a place to sleep at night so they could climb the western highlands. How could they endure the freezing evenings of -30°C? Carlos Miguel Rodriguez, an 18-year-old lad, was one of the survivors.

He recalled learning how to sew with needles from his mother. He had his sewing gear and needles with him. His plan was to sew many articles of clothing together to create a large sleeping bag. “I thought it might be possible to build a sleeping bag out of the insulation. But I created it myself in addition to having the idea.” This is what they did. Two months had gone by the following day, December 12, when the crash occurred.

Without any mountaineering equipment, these three courageous men—Parrado, Canessa, and Vizintin—started their ascent of the glacier. “The only certain thing was to the West was Chile.” They would have to ascend the mountain before descending if they continued westward. They continued to think that they were just a few kilometers distant. So, after walking for two to three days, they hoped to find assistance.

Thus, they prepared enough beef for three days. And you can see yourself as a child lacking any knowledge or experience! When faced with a snowstorm, you attempt to climb straight up, possibly using both hands and feet, but you end yourself slipping and sliding. And you slide back half a step for each step you take upward.” Parrado was dressed in three pairs of jeans to keep warm.

In addition, he had four pairs of socks on his feet and three sweaters on top of his t-shirt. Over his socks, he had a plastic shopping bag on. It was really cold. They lacked climbing experience, a map, a compass, and any technical equipment. Additionally, the air becomes extremely thin at this altitude, making it easier to experience oxygen deprivation. They nevertheless continued to advance in the direction of the peak.During the night, they might utilize the sleeping bag they had sewn. They continued to advance over the day, walking slowly. In that one sleeping bag, the three of them slept as close to one another as they could.

And they set out on foot as soon as the sun rose. Slowly, they continued to advance in tandem. They discovered that their estimate was wildly off on the mornings of the second, third, and fourth days. They could see no end to their trek in front of them. With almost little food left, Vizintin made the decision to head back to the crash site, leaving the other two to continue on, thereby reducing the amount of food required.

Vizintin began to regress on December 15th, which was simpler because everything was going bad. In less than an hour, he arrived at the crash site while using an airplane seat as a sleigh. He returned to the crash scene in an hour, although it took them three days to ascend this peak. Parrado and Canessa continued their ascent of the peak. When they finally topped the mountain after three hours, they were surrounded by nothing but mountains for as far as the eye could see.

“All I could see were the covered mountains covered in snow.” I was speechless and unable to think due to the horrific sight we witnessed. We were surrounded by mountains and snow-capped peaks in every direction, all the way to the horizon, instead of verdant meadows.” Parrado searched in vain for something else to look at. They could see the tops of two mountains devoid of snow in the distant western horizon. And they supposed they should continue in that direction.

They have to persevere. For several days, Parrado and Canessa hike nonstop. They eventually arrived in a valley. a valley where a river was visible to them. It was a huge relief to reach the river in this situation. because it was simple to locate a trail that went downhill as one traveled downstream on the river. They continued to walk and walk. Finally, on December 20, after nine days of hiking, they discovered some human habitation.

In the fields, they could make out a few cows. By now, they were too exhausted to walk much more. “Look, a man on a horse!” exclaimed someone across the river at that very moment. Three men were riding by. Parrado attempted to yell. But those people were unable to hear him because of how loud the river was. However, by coincidence, one of them noticed Canessa and Parrado. He glared at them before yelling back. “Tomorrow!”

He promised to return the next day. The man returns the following day on horseback, with pencils and paper this time. He used a thread to secure the paper and pencil to a stone before tossing it across the river. Parrado got the chance to address the world with his message for the first time. On the paper, Parado wrote in Spanish, “I come from a plane that fell in the mountains.”

his origins were in Uruguay. and had spent ten days on foot. and that his companions who had been hurt were present at the scene of the accident. He stated that they were in dire need of assistance but were unsure of where to turn. They had nothing to eat. They lacked strength. Moreover, they had lost the ability to walk. He begged to be spared. He enquired as to their whereabouts. On the other side, Sergio Catalan, a farmer from Chile, was the recipient of this telegram.

After reading this note, he gestured to him to let him know he understood. It ended up that after speaking with his two pals, they had some sketchy recollection. They had learned of the jet disaster on the news a few months prior. And these buddies were astonished to learn this. The fact that there were survivors from a plane catastrophe that happened two months ago shocked them. After tossing a piece of bread across the river, Sergio traveled westward for the next ten hours on a horse.

They were still a long way from any town or populated area. Eventually, he phoned the army headquarters in Santiago after informing the army command of his whereabouts when he arrived at the closest city. Parrado and Canessa were transported to Los Maitenes by the farmers using horses in the interim. where they are able to sleep at last. It was discovered that throughout the previous ten days, they had walked 61 km out of sheer willpower.

Canessa was half the man he once was. Back then, he weighed just 44 kg. As soon as more people learned about their story, it was reported globally. This story was so heartbreaking it was incredible. Three helicopters are dispatched by the Chilean Air Force to promptly rescue the survivors. Parrado and Canessa were questioned by army officers to obtain information about the site. Plotting the locations where they were hiking, Parrado had carried the pilot’s flight map with him.

He accompanied Army officers on their helicopter search for the crash site. The army leaders were able to locate the other survivors with Parrado’s assistance. Seventy days after the incident, on December 22, 1972, two search and rescue helicopters managed to locate and save the survivors.

A total of sixteen survivors were saved. They were in appalling shape. malnourishment, dehydration, fractured bones, and altitude sickness. However, they all bounced back. The world can learn a lesson about hope from this story. Nothing is impossible if you set your mind to something and have humanity and patience. You can do things that are beyond your wildest dreams if you so want.

You can check the video below, by an amazing story teller, Dhruv Rathee,

In other words, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” This catastrophe is also known as the Miracle of the Andes for this reason. I have a ton of more videos on the accounts of similar plane disasters if you enjoyed this one. Similar to this, see the most horrifying Concordia Cruise Ship crash, incident.

Thank You So much, Let’s get in touch.