Forty-five people were aboard a flight bound for Chile when it crashed high in the mountains. What followed became an extraordinary account of survival, loss and the struggle to reach help.
THE UNIVERSAL RECORD
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Brad Socha | October 13, 2026 | 4:55 AM EST
On October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed into the snow-covered Andes Mountains in Argentina, beginning a 72-day ordeal that would leave 29 people dead and 16 survivors facing conditions few could have anticipated.
The aircraft was carrying 45 people, including members of Uruguay’s Old Christians Club rugby team, along with friends, relatives and crew members. They were travelling to Santiago, Chile, when their chartered Fairchild FH-227D struck the mountains near the Argentine-Chilean border.
The crash was devastating, but it was only the beginning.
Stranded at an altitude of approximately 3,600 metres, the survivors faced freezing temperatures, serious injuries, little food and no reliable means of contacting the outside world.
Their experience, later widely known as the Miracle in the Andes, became one of the most extensively documented survival stories in aviation history.
Flight 571 Crashes in the Andes
The journey began on October 12, 1972, when the aircraft departed Montevideo, Uruguay, carrying the rugby group toward Chile.
Bad weather forced the flight to stop overnight in Mendoza, Argentina. The following day, the aircraft resumed its journey across the Andes.
The mountainous route presented considerable navigational challenges. Flying through cloud cover, the crew incorrectly believed the aircraft had passed the highest terrain and was approaching Santiago.
The aircraft began descending while mountains still lay ahead.
At approximately 3:30 p.m. on October 13, it struck a mountain ridge. Both wings and the tail section were torn away, while the remaining fuselage slid down a snowy slope before coming to rest in a remote mountain valley.
Several people died in the impact, and others succumbed to their injuries in the days that followed.
Those still alive were surrounded by snow, ice and steep mountain slopes. Many were young and physically fit, but they had no mountaineering equipment and were dressed for a relatively ordinary journey rather than prolonged exposure to alpine conditions.
The damaged fuselage became their shelter.
Survivors used luggage, seat covers and other available materials to block openings and conserve warmth. Snow was melted to provide drinking water, while the group’s limited food supplies were carefully divided.
The white wreckage was difficult to distinguish against the snow from the air.
Rescue aircraft searched the region, but the exact location of the crash remained unknown. After several days without success, the official search was suspended.
The survivors learned of that decision through a small radio receiver.
With little prospect of being found, they faced the growing realization that reaching safety might depend on their own actions.
Food became the most immediate crisis. After exhausting their supplies, the group made the painful decision to consume the remains of those who had died.
It was a decision made under extreme circumstances, and one the survivors later discussed openly when recounting the ordeal.
The situation deteriorated further on October 29, when an avalanche struck the fuselage during the night, killing eight people and temporarily trapping those who remained alive beneath the snow.
Despite the losses, the survivors continued organizing their limited resources and caring for one another.
A Desperate Journey to Find Help
As the weeks passed, several attempts were made to explore the surrounding mountains and assess possible escape routes.
By December, only 16 people remained alive.
On December 12, Fernando “Nando” Parrado, Roberto Canessa and Antonio Vizintín began a determined expedition away from the wreckage, hoping to cross the mountains and reach an inhabited area.
Their journey required climbing steep, snow-covered terrain with limited food, inadequate clothing and no specialized equipment.
After several days, Vizintín returned to the crash site so the remaining supplies could sustain Parrado and Canessa for longer.
The two men continued westward, eventually descending into a valley where they encountered signs of human activity.
On December 20, they came across Chilean herdsman Sergio Catalán, who was separated from them by a river.
Unable to communicate easily across the rushing water, they exchanged written messages. Catalán then travelled to alert the authorities.
Their encounter finally provided rescuers with the information needed to locate the aircraft wreckage.
Chilean Air Force helicopters carried out the rescue operation on December 22 and 23, 1972.
Fourteen people were evacuated from the crash site over those two days. Together with Parrado and Canessa, who had already reached safety, the total number of survivors was 16.
The final evacuation came 72 days after the aircraft crashed.
The tragedy claimed 29 lives, including passengers and crew members who died in the initial accident or during the subsequent weeks in the mountains.
News of the rescue spread internationally, drawing attention to the extraordinary physical and psychological demands the survivors had endured.
Their experiences also raised difficult questions about survival, ethics and the decisions people may face when ordinary means of sustaining life disappear.
In the decades that followed, survivors published personal accounts, participated in interviews and helped preserve the history of those who died.
The events inspired several books and films, including Alive in 1993 and the Spanish-language film Society of the Snow, released in 2023.
The story has often been presented as an example of human endurance, but its historical significance also lies in the cooperation among the survivors, the difficult choices they confronted and the rescue effort that followed.
The events of October 13, 1972, remain a reminder of the dangers of mountain aviation and the vulnerability of people stranded far beyond the reach of immediate assistance.
For the 16 who returned home, survival depended not on a single act, but on weeks of shared effort, painful decisions and, ultimately, a journey through the mountains that brought rescuers to those still waiting.
Sources:
Museo Andes 1972 (Uruguay) — Tragedy / Miracle
https://mandes.uy/en/tragedia-milagro/
Chile’s National Aeronautical and Space Museum — 50 Years Since the Rescue of the Andes Survivors (Spanish)
https://museoaeronautico.dgac.gob.cl/2022/12/19/104-efemeride-a-50-anos-del-rescate-de-los-sobrevivientes-de-la-tragedia-de-los-andes/
Chile’s National Aeronautical and Space Museum — Visit by Members of the 1972 Rescue Crew (Spanish)
https://museoaeronautico.dgac.gob.cl/2024/02/12/visita-de-parte-de-la-tripulacion-que-realizo-rescate-del-avion-uruguayo-accidentado-en-la-cordillera-de-los-andes-en-el-ano-1972/
Roberto Canessa — Andes Timeline (Survivor’s Account)
https://www.drcanessa.com/andesTimeline.html
National Geographic — Society of the Snow Is Based on a True Story: Here’s What Really Happened
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/flight-571-andes-crash-true-story
National Geographic — He Survived the 1972 Andes Plane Crash. Now, He Lives to Help Others.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/160403-andes-uruguay-rugby-cannibal-plane-crash-canessa-ngbooktalk
About the Author
Brad Socha is the founder of The Universal Record, focused on sourced, factual global reporting. Coverage includes international news, geopolitics, technology, and major developments.