On This Day in History: October 13
A Uruguayan rugby team's plane crashes in the Andes mountains
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These days you can choose from a selection of movies on a private screen while flying. But prior to the 21st century there was usually just one movie being shown on a big screen. A friend of mine was on a flight where the movie was the 1993 film Alive. It’s about a plane that crashes in the Andes and the survivors go cannibal. Who the fuck chose that as an IN-FLIGHT movie?
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: October 13, 1972--
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 was chartered by a rugby team from Montevideo to travel to Santiago, Chile for a match against an English team. The twin engine turboprop had 40 passengers on board and five crew. The co-pilot fucked up.
The Andes are the world’s longest continental mountain range, running along the west side of South America. Chile is a long and narrow nation that resides on the west side of the Andes. The flight left Montevideo on October 13, 1972, and flew over the mountain range in poor weather. It was necessary to rely on instruments, but the co-pilot didn’t know what the fuck he was doing and misread them. He said hey it’s time to descend into Santiago but it was not yet time and they clipped a mountain that ripped off both the wings and the tail section. Oops.
Eleven people died in the crash, but the number of fatalities would more than double in the coming weeks. That’s because many were seriously injured, it was cold as fuck, no one could find the crash site, and there was a pesky thing called an avalanche. Maybe if the plane had been painted bright pink the rescue flights would have seen it, but the white fuselage blended with the snow. After eight days of searching, the authorities said fuck it and gave up. But there were survivors on the mountain who refused to quit.
Their survival was an ordeal, battling the elements, a massive avalanche, and starvation. Eleven days after the crash they found a small transistor radio and learned the search had been called off. Many fell into despair, but Gustavo Nicolich said it was “Good news.” Others were all the fuck? How the fuck is that good news? He replied, “Because it means that we’re going to get out of here on our own.” His optimism prevented others from experiencing total despair. Alas, Nicolich died in the avalanche a few days later.
Their strength waned due to starvation. All of them were Roman Catholic and feared damnation by resorting to cannibalizing the dead, but it was the only way to survive. As spring came to the southern hemisphere, Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa ascended a 15,260-foot peak without gear, map, compass, or any climbing experience. On the other side they saw nothing but more mountains and thought ah shit we are so fucked. But in the distance some mountains were not snow-covered, so they headed for them. For 10 days, getting weaker by the day, the pair trekked through the mountains, eventually finding civilization and sending a helicopter back to rescue the other 14 survivors on December 23.
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