1 00:00:08,599 --> 00:00:10,559 MAN: This story, for me, it's a mystery, 2 00:00:10,599 --> 00:00:13,959 because once that you live through something, 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:19,360 it's very hard to comprehend really what you went through. 4 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:21,720 It's disquieting to understand that 5 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:26,480 we human beings can adapt to horror very fast. 6 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:32,279 NARRATOR: On Friday the 13th of October, 1972, 7 00:00:32,319 --> 00:00:35,599 a charter plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team crashed 8 00:00:35,639 --> 00:00:38,319 in a remote area of the Argentinian Andes 9 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:40,800 during the heart of the snowy season. 10 00:00:42,279 --> 00:00:46,519 Since the plane's broken fuselage was white, and half-buried in snow, 11 00:00:46,559 --> 00:00:49,279 it was virtually impossible to spot from the air. 12 00:00:49,319 --> 00:00:52,360 A search was abandoned after only 10 days, 13 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:54,760 and all aboard were presumed dead. 14 00:00:55,839 --> 00:00:58,519 But of the 45 passengers and crew, 15 00:00:58,559 --> 00:01:01,680 32 had survived the initial impact. 16 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:05,199 For 72 unimaginable days and nights, 17 00:01:05,239 --> 00:01:07,959 they endured starvation, sub-zero temperatures, 18 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,440 even an avalanche that took 8 more lives. 19 00:01:12,519 --> 00:01:15,879 The bodies of the dead became the survivors' only source of food. 20 00:01:15,919 --> 00:01:19,720 And all attempts at saving themselves proved hopeless. 21 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,000 Then, just before Christmas, 22 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,120 the world was stunned to learn that 23 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,519 2 emaciated men had emerged from the mountains, 24 00:01:30,559 --> 00:01:32,879 having travelled on foot for 10 days, 25 00:01:32,919 --> 00:01:36,519 and leaving 14 more survivors back at the crash site. 26 00:01:37,639 --> 00:01:40,919 The unthinkable ordeal of the Andes survivors 27 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:43,360 is one of the greatest examples of human endurance 28 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:45,080 in recorded history. 29 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:46,879 Now, 50 years later, 30 00:01:46,919 --> 00:01:49,360 an expedition that includes one of the survivors 31 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:52,160 returns to the remote crash site in summer, 32 00:01:52,199 --> 00:01:55,000 where glacial melting and the effects of climate change 33 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:56,800 have stripped the area of snow and ice 34 00:01:56,839 --> 00:01:59,959 that was once up to 100 feet deep. 35 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,440 With this dramatic transformation, 36 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,279 the site has begun revealing long-hidden secrets, 37 00:02:05,319 --> 00:02:08,000 from buried wreckage, to personal items, 38 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:10,239 to preserved human remains. 39 00:02:10,279 --> 00:02:14,160 The means by which 16 young men survived the impossible 40 00:02:14,199 --> 00:02:16,839 have never been more clearly revealed. 41 00:02:17,879 --> 00:02:21,000 This is the story of both the worst of nightmares 42 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,000 and the most astonishing of miracles. 43 00:02:39,839 --> 00:02:41,160 My name is Ricardo Pena. 44 00:02:41,199 --> 00:02:43,519 I'm a professional alpinist and explorer. 45 00:02:43,559 --> 00:02:46,199 For the 50th anniversary of the Andes tragedy, 46 00:02:46,239 --> 00:02:48,879 I led a special expedition to the crash site 47 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:50,879 to answer the unanswered questions 48 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:53,199 about history's greatest survival story. 49 00:02:53,239 --> 00:02:57,239 The journey to the remote area known as the Valley of Tears 50 00:02:57,279 --> 00:02:58,720 is a difficult one, 51 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,760 requiring a full day's drive from the nearest sign of civilisation, 52 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,000 followed by an exhausting two-day journey on horseback 53 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:09,000 into the treacherous Argentinian Andes. 54 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,879 It is a no-man's land, lying almost dead-centre 55 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:14,400 of the longest mountain range in the world. 56 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:18,080 Accompanying Pena on the expedition 57 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:22,199 is his wife, and climate scientist, Ulyana Horodyskyj Pena, 58 00:03:22,239 --> 00:03:25,160 as well as one of the actual survivors of the ordeal, 59 00:03:25,199 --> 00:03:27,639 74-year-old Eduardo Strauch. 60 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,160 I never imagined that I would... 61 00:03:30,199 --> 00:03:33,279 ..feel the need of coming back to the place 62 00:03:33,319 --> 00:03:36,680 after what I had lived at that time. 63 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:41,519 But something happened in my mind, my spirit, my soul, 64 00:03:41,559 --> 00:03:44,319 that this mountain called me. 65 00:03:47,519 --> 00:03:49,480 My name is Nando Parrado. 66 00:03:49,519 --> 00:03:53,800 I survived for 2.5 months in the high peaks of the Andes 67 00:03:53,839 --> 00:04:00,519 after my plane crashed there in October 13, 1972. 68 00:04:02,839 --> 00:04:07,000 The tale of the Andes survivors begins with a friendly game of rugby 69 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:08,440 to be played between 70 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,239 the Old Christians Club from Montevideo, Uruguay, 71 00:04:11,279 --> 00:04:14,959 and the Old Grangonian Club from Santiago, Chile. 72 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,120 When we boarded that plane to fly to Santiago, Chile with my rugby team, 73 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,480 I invited my mother - Xenia was her name - 74 00:04:22,519 --> 00:04:26,120 and my little sister Susanna to fly with me. 75 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:27,879 They were fans of my team, 76 00:04:27,919 --> 00:04:32,040 and we always liked to have them near the matches. 77 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,919 And I said, "Why don't you come with us? 78 00:04:34,959 --> 00:04:37,959 "We'll do some shopping in Santiago, we'll go to a game on Sunday, 79 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,680 "and we'll fly back to Montevideo on Monday." 80 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,080 The team's chartered plane, 81 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,000 a Fairchild FH-227D, 82 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:48,120 lands in Mendoza, Argentina, 83 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:50,760 due to reports of bad weather over the Andes. 84 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:55,480 The next morning, it takes off and flies south for the Planchon Pass 85 00:04:55,519 --> 00:04:58,639 where crossing the range would be less dangerous. 86 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:04,080 Strangely, an incident similar to the crash of Flight 571 87 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:06,440 had occurred just 11 years earlier, 88 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:08,839 and roughly 100 miles due south. 89 00:05:08,879 --> 00:05:11,400 On April 3, 1961, 90 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:13,639 a plane carrying a Chilean football team 91 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:15,919 vanished over the Andes. 92 00:05:15,959 --> 00:05:18,319 The search was eventually abandoned. 93 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:20,319 Wreckage and the remains of those aboard 94 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,199 were not discovered until 2015, 95 00:05:23,239 --> 00:05:25,120 54 years later. 96 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:27,440 In November of 2016, 97 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:29,680 a plane carrying a Brazilian football team 98 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:31,680 crashed in the Colombian Andes, 99 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:34,919 killing 71 of the 77 on board. 100 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:38,879 (INDISTINCT EXCLAMATIONS) 101 00:05:39,919 --> 00:05:41,720 Flying over the Andes Mountains 102 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:44,519 can be a harrowing experience, even today. 103 00:05:44,559 --> 00:05:47,680 This video was shot in June of 2022. 104 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,199 (EXCLAMATIONS AND SCREAMS) 105 00:05:54,959 --> 00:05:57,440 The route between Mendoza and Santiago 106 00:05:57,480 --> 00:05:59,120 is a challenge for pilots, 107 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,879 due to a phenomenon called 'mountain wave'. 108 00:06:01,919 --> 00:06:03,919 (SCREAMING) 109 00:06:03,959 --> 00:06:06,080 RICARDO: Mendoza to Santiago, 110 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:08,480 same flight as the survivors, 111 00:06:08,519 --> 00:06:10,519 is the worst turbulence I've ever experienced in my life. 112 00:06:10,559 --> 00:06:12,959 I love flying, but that was very scary. 113 00:06:15,959 --> 00:06:17,319 In order to get to the crash site, 114 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:19,360 you have to enter from the east side. 115 00:06:20,519 --> 00:06:23,839 It's really quite beautiful, and still, to this day, very remote 116 00:06:23,879 --> 00:06:26,440 and it feels untouched by man. 117 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:29,720 But as you get higher and higher, the vegetation thins out, 118 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:32,879 the landscape transforms into rock, ice. 119 00:06:32,919 --> 00:06:35,360 You can imagine this place in 1972. 120 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,480 It was a glacier completely covered in snow. 121 00:06:38,519 --> 00:06:41,120 WOMAN: We can see these glaciers just melting away, 122 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:42,839 disappearing before our eyes. 123 00:06:42,879 --> 00:06:45,199 The interesting thing is when you have a lot of this bare rock, 124 00:06:45,239 --> 00:06:47,239 it's much darker than that clean ice. 125 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:49,680 and something that's darker, like this darker shirt I'm wearing, 126 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:51,559 will absorb more of the sun's heat, 127 00:06:51,599 --> 00:06:54,040 so it can actually cause even more melting. 128 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,040 So this is a problem in two ways. 129 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:58,879 One, rising temperatures causing these glaciers to melt, 130 00:06:58,919 --> 00:07:00,120 revealing more rock. 131 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,279 Then the rock absorbing more heat and causing even more melting. 132 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:05,919 We're approaching the crash site. 133 00:07:05,959 --> 00:07:09,800 The way the glacier has melted in 50 years is unbelievable. 134 00:07:09,839 --> 00:07:11,959 It has lost so much mass. 135 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:13,720 The snowy peaks around us 136 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:16,160 have nothing, almost nothing - no snow at all. 137 00:07:16,199 --> 00:07:17,800 So it's dramatically different. 138 00:07:17,839 --> 00:07:19,680 It would be unrecognisable 139 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:23,319 if we hadn't studied this place and know it so well - 140 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:24,680 him through what he's lived, 141 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,919 and me through all my studying of this and visiting this place. 142 00:07:27,959 --> 00:07:31,160 Pena's friendship with survivor Eduardo Strauch 143 00:07:31,199 --> 00:07:35,440 and connection to the tragedy began in the most unexpected of ways. 144 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:37,760 In 2005, on my first visit there, 145 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:41,080 I found a coat buried in rocks. 146 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,319 On the documents that I found inside the coat, 147 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:45,519 I recognised the name, Eduardo Strauch - 148 00:07:45,559 --> 00:07:46,959 one of the survivors - 149 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:48,319 which blew my mind. 150 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:51,319 My wallet, my money, my documents, my passport, 151 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,680 and just beside them, my sunglasses. 152 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:57,160 It's really amazing, that story. 153 00:07:57,199 --> 00:07:59,000 We eventually met in person, 154 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:01,480 and it was the beginning of an incredible friendship 155 00:08:01,519 --> 00:08:03,680 that has changed my life. 156 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:06,919 He painted the cover of an album 157 00:08:06,959 --> 00:08:10,400 that I recorded with my band called Los Bohemios. 158 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:12,319 And he did this beautiful painting. 159 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:19,440 Approximately a half mile downhill from the actual crash site 160 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:23,199 is a memorial dedicated to the victims of Flight 571. 161 00:08:23,239 --> 00:08:25,639 It was erected in 1973 162 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:28,760 in an area believed to be safe from avalanches. 163 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:32,199 It contains an iron cross and a simple stone altar. 164 00:08:32,239 --> 00:08:34,400 Through the years, plaques have been added to the altar 165 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:36,360 by family members. 166 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:43,519 I could sense, when we were getting closer to the crash site, 167 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,480 that Eduardo was getting quiet, 168 00:08:46,519 --> 00:08:48,959 emotional, introspective. 169 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:50,599 I could see that... 170 00:08:50,639 --> 00:08:53,639 ..that being in this place definitely brings him back 171 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:56,440 and makes him think of his friends, of his lost friends, 172 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:58,279 and everything he lived. 173 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:21,879 NANDO: When we were flying over the Andes on a very small airplane, 174 00:09:21,919 --> 00:09:26,160 a twin turboprop engine, Fairchild F27, 175 00:09:26,199 --> 00:09:28,720 full of people, full of cargo, 176 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:31,519 bad weather, inexperienced pilots - 177 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:34,800 everything added up to a bad result. 178 00:09:34,839 --> 00:09:37,279 The pilot's plan is to fly west, 179 00:09:37,319 --> 00:09:39,360 then turn north at Curico, 180 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:41,639 and descend into Santiago. 181 00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:45,959 But they made a fatal error in calculating the distance to Curico. 182 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,519 Inexplicably, and over a blanket of total cloud cover, 183 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:53,080 they turned north 9 minutes too soon. 184 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:55,120 Only when they descended through the clouds 185 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:57,279 do they realise their mistake. 186 00:09:57,319 --> 00:10:00,199 Passengers are briefly aware that something is terribly wrong 187 00:10:00,239 --> 00:10:03,599 as they descend into menacing peaks on all sides. 188 00:10:03,639 --> 00:10:07,839 The plane struggles to gain altitude, but it's too late. 189 00:10:07,879 --> 00:10:11,199 The sound of the engines... (IMITATES HIGH-PITCHED WHINE) 190 00:10:11,239 --> 00:10:13,360 ..and the plane starts jumping and jumping. 191 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:15,120 I closed my eyes, 192 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:17,239 and put in this position, 193 00:10:17,279 --> 00:10:19,519 just waiting for the end. 194 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:23,720 The right wing clips a ridge and breaks off, 195 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:26,199 and the tail separates from the aircraft. 196 00:10:26,239 --> 00:10:28,080 7 people are sucked out of the plane 197 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:31,959 as it arcs over the ridge toward a steep, snow-covered slope. 198 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:37,720 The left wing breaks away 199 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:40,279 and the fuselage impacts the slope at such an angle 200 00:10:40,319 --> 00:10:43,160 that it toboggans for more than 2,000 feet, 201 00:10:43,199 --> 00:10:45,760 before slamming to a stop against a glacier. 202 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:55,160 While 32 of 45 passengers miraculously survived impact, 203 00:10:55,199 --> 00:10:59,959 they couldn't have crashed in a more remote, inhospitable place on earth, 204 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,400 with no trees, plants, or animals, 205 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:05,400 only jagged, treacherous peaks 206 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:07,639 as far as the eye can see. 207 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:26,559 This is the place where the fuselage of the Fairchild, 208 00:11:26,599 --> 00:11:28,680 the airplane that the Andes survivors crashed in, 209 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:30,720 this is where it was. 210 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:33,639 Up here 211 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:35,199 is the impact point 212 00:11:35,239 --> 00:11:36,919 where the plane hit the mountain 213 00:11:36,959 --> 00:11:38,559 and then started sliding down. 214 00:11:38,599 --> 00:11:42,040 You have to imagine all of this completely covered in snow. 215 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:46,720 It was the beginning of spring, so there was tons of snow. 216 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:48,919 And it slid down that whole gully. 217 00:11:48,959 --> 00:11:52,400 And the slope changed steepness, 218 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:57,360 and that's what finally made the fuselage come to a stop. 219 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:00,680 When it came to a stop, that's when all the seats went forward. 220 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:02,959 A lot of people died in that moment, 221 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:04,639 and this is where the fuselage stayed, 222 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:06,040 pointing that way, 223 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,760 for the whole 72 days that they were here. 224 00:12:12,319 --> 00:12:15,080 It's a miracle that some passengers survived, 225 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,599 because nobody survives a plane crash at cruising altitude 226 00:12:18,639 --> 00:12:21,319 and at cruising speed, against a mountain. 227 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:24,800 1972 to 73 was a very strong El Nino year. 228 00:12:24,839 --> 00:12:28,199 An El Nino year is when the Pacific Ocean gets very warm 229 00:12:28,239 --> 00:12:32,040 and it can actually dump a lot of moisture onto this part of the Andes 230 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:33,599 when it normally wouldn't. 231 00:12:33,639 --> 00:12:36,599 And so the snow was kind of their... what saved them. 232 00:12:36,639 --> 00:12:39,480 Because when the plane hit and when the fuselage was going down, 233 00:12:39,519 --> 00:12:41,279 it tobogganed down the snow, 234 00:12:41,319 --> 00:12:43,319 but then it also became their trap. 235 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:45,760 The 12 killed in the initial crash 236 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:48,760 include the pilot and 2 crew members. 237 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:50,760 Stumbling out of the fuselage, 238 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,879 a few of the survivors report seeing a human figure 239 00:12:53,919 --> 00:12:56,279 staggering down this mountain side, 240 00:12:56,319 --> 00:12:58,319 a passenger sucked out of the plane, 241 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:01,239 before he sinks into the snow and disappears. 242 00:13:02,919 --> 00:13:04,879 My mother died. 243 00:13:04,919 --> 00:13:07,800 My sister Susy was very badly injured 244 00:13:07,839 --> 00:13:10,440 and I was very badly hurt. 245 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,040 I was in a coma four days. 246 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,680 Medical student, Roberto Canessa, 247 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:17,480 only superficially injured, 248 00:13:17,519 --> 00:13:20,599 helps tend to the critically injured and dying. 249 00:13:32,879 --> 00:13:36,080 Eduardo Strauch has minor injuries but is in shock, 250 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:38,480 and repeatedly tries to leave the plane, 251 00:13:38,519 --> 00:13:40,879 only to be pulled back in by his cousin. 252 00:13:40,919 --> 00:13:42,599 We were surrounded... 253 00:13:42,639 --> 00:13:45,559 with people dying, dead people, 254 00:13:45,599 --> 00:13:47,319 blood over the snow. 255 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:49,279 It was very cold. 256 00:13:49,319 --> 00:13:54,040 They said we had 35 centigrade below zero that night. 257 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:55,839 We did not know where we were, 258 00:13:55,879 --> 00:13:57,879 so we prepared to pass that night 259 00:13:57,919 --> 00:14:00,800 and wait for the rescue the morning after. 260 00:14:00,839 --> 00:14:03,599 But morning arrives with no rescue, 261 00:14:03,639 --> 00:14:05,519 and 5 more dead, 262 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:07,000 including the co-pilot, 263 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:08,959 who had been begging for some of the boys 264 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:10,599 to fetch his revolver from his bag 265 00:14:10,639 --> 00:14:12,480 so that he could shoot himself. 266 00:14:13,599 --> 00:14:15,839 The crash site is a deep valley 267 00:14:15,879 --> 00:14:18,599 surrounded by mountains on three sides. 268 00:14:18,639 --> 00:14:22,040 Because the dying co-pilot had repeatedly told them - quote - 269 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:23,800 "We passed Curico," 270 00:14:23,839 --> 00:14:26,160 the survivors believe they are in Chile, 271 00:14:26,199 --> 00:14:29,839 and that following the valley east, the seemingly easiest way out, 272 00:14:29,879 --> 00:14:33,080 would only take them deeper into the Andes. 273 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:34,559 The route west, 274 00:14:34,599 --> 00:14:36,040 which the survivors BELIEVE 275 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:38,199 is the shortest way out of the mountains, 276 00:14:38,239 --> 00:14:42,199 is blocked by a massive 15,000-foot head wall. 277 00:14:42,239 --> 00:14:45,680 This mountain would become an obsession with the survivors. 278 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:47,919 For, on the other side of it, they believed they would find 279 00:14:47,959 --> 00:14:51,080 the green valleys of Chile, and freedom. 280 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:52,919 What they DON'T know 281 00:14:52,959 --> 00:14:55,360 is that they are in Argentina, 282 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:57,120 in an area so remote 283 00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:59,839 many of the mountains have not even been named. 284 00:15:01,639 --> 00:15:03,599 In the days following the crash, 285 00:15:03,639 --> 00:15:07,400 search and rescue teams from Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay 286 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:10,720 scour the Andes looking for the missing plane. 287 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:13,599 But because the pilots of Flight 571 288 00:15:13,639 --> 00:15:16,919 had erroneously reported their position prior to the crash, 289 00:15:16,959 --> 00:15:19,080 the search area is broad. 290 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:22,919 And while some of the boys claim to hear planes passing overhead, 291 00:15:22,959 --> 00:15:27,319 no-one spots the white fuselage against the white snow. 292 00:15:28,159 --> 00:15:32,640 This is amazing. This is the front wheel of the Fairchild. 293 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:33,680 Remember, they... Wow. 294 00:15:33,719 --> 00:15:36,799 Some pieces of the plane wreckage emerging from the melting glacier 295 00:15:36,839 --> 00:15:40,680 have been unseen since 1972. 296 00:15:40,719 --> 00:15:41,960 Look at this. 297 00:15:43,199 --> 00:15:45,479 This is the front wheel of the Fairchild. 298 00:15:45,519 --> 00:15:47,119 It's unmistakable because 299 00:15:47,159 --> 00:15:49,560 the Fairchild had a single front wheel 300 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:51,560 and then double wheels in the back. 301 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:53,439 And when you see the historic pictures, 302 00:15:53,479 --> 00:15:57,040 the Fairchild's got the front all crushed in, 303 00:15:57,079 --> 00:15:58,880 and the wheel is revealing. 304 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:01,479 So you could compare this to the historical pictures. 305 00:16:03,439 --> 00:16:06,439 The survivors have almost no food - 306 00:16:06,479 --> 00:16:09,079 some wine someone had purchased in Mendoza, 307 00:16:09,119 --> 00:16:13,759 and a few meagre bits of candy to distribute among 27 people. 308 00:16:13,799 --> 00:16:16,519 They learn quickly how to melt snow for water 309 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:19,240 using reflective metal from the seatbacks. 310 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:21,360 But they are weak in the high altitude, 311 00:16:21,399 --> 00:16:24,119 and their bodies cry out for sustenance. 312 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:30,280 After 3 days, Nando Parrado regains consciousness. 313 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:34,159 He immediately gravitates to his sister, who is clinging to life. 314 00:16:34,199 --> 00:16:37,280 When I woke up from my coma, I crawled to where she was, 315 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:39,799 and the only thing I could do was to embrace her. 316 00:16:40,759 --> 00:16:43,960 For 5 days, Parrado remained at his sister's side, 317 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:46,119 but Susanna could not be saved. 318 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:50,119 She died in my arms. 319 00:16:52,159 --> 00:16:54,439 The survivors have a transistor radio 320 00:16:54,479 --> 00:16:56,439 to which they fashion a makeshift antenna 321 00:16:56,479 --> 00:16:59,199 so they can get updates on the search. 322 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:00,759 But on the 10th day, 323 00:17:00,799 --> 00:17:04,960 they hear the devastating news that the search has been called off. 324 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:08,799 Hearing over the radio, they're not coming, it's up to us. 325 00:17:08,839 --> 00:17:12,320 The incredible courage that they showed, how they came together. 326 00:17:12,360 --> 00:17:13,920 With no hope for rescue, 327 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:17,079 the survivors begin short journeys away from the fuselage 328 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:19,280 to search for an escape route. 329 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:22,479 But they return exhausted and humiliated. 330 00:17:22,519 --> 00:17:26,680 Saving themselves without consuming anything for energy is impossible. 331 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:29,880 It's like being on Mars or Venus. 332 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:33,759 It's a completely alien landscape, 333 00:17:33,799 --> 00:17:35,920 and there's nothing you can eat. 334 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:38,040 Absolutely nothing. 335 00:17:38,079 --> 00:17:43,399 Hunger is very difficult to explain, in the way that we felt hunger. 336 00:17:43,439 --> 00:17:47,159 Hunger is the most primal fear of the human being. 337 00:17:47,199 --> 00:17:49,640 It's the worst fear that you can have, 338 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,680 and it's a fear that you will never, ever experience 339 00:17:52,719 --> 00:17:54,839 unless the stakes are real. 340 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:57,680 Not knowing when you are going to eat again 341 00:17:57,719 --> 00:18:01,479 is the most horrible fear that you can have. 342 00:18:01,519 --> 00:18:03,320 There's nothing worse than that. 343 00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:05,159 Everything was gone, 344 00:18:05,199 --> 00:18:08,240 and we started feeling very, very weak. 345 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:12,320 And it was difficult to think and to take decisions. 346 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:17,040 So we tried to eat the leather from the luggage - suitcases. 347 00:18:17,079 --> 00:18:19,040 It was impossible, and... 348 00:18:19,079 --> 00:18:21,560 ..it start coming into our minds... 349 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:24,240 ..that the only way to get protein 350 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:29,519 was in the bodies of the... the people who have died. 351 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:33,560 Everybody, at the same time, started to have the same thought. 352 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,719 At the end, we human beings, we are animals, 353 00:18:36,759 --> 00:18:38,560 and we have to eat. 354 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:41,880 We were doomed. We were condemned to die. 355 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:46,079 So your brain starts to work on a different wavelength. 356 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:48,560 What can I do if I don't want to die? 357 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:50,000 And there's only one option. 358 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:53,040 But the survivors face a difficult dilemma - 359 00:18:53,079 --> 00:18:54,920 who to eat first? 360 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:58,119 You're in a tribe, you are with your friends. 361 00:18:58,159 --> 00:19:00,320 We are very tight, the same team. 362 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:02,479 Obviously, it's common sense. 363 00:19:02,519 --> 00:19:06,640 Who is the furthest away from our system, 364 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:08,640 from our family, from our tribe. 365 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:10,000 And it was the pilot. 366 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:13,439 It is medical student Roberto Canessa, 367 00:19:13,479 --> 00:19:16,960 who volunteers to take the first taste of human flesh. 368 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:18,960 Using a broken piece of glass for a knife, 369 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:21,280 he cuts a small morsel. 370 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:24,680 Once others see him do it, they partake as well. 371 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:31,159 There are passengers who initially refused, 372 00:19:31,199 --> 00:19:34,839 like Liliana Methol, the group's only surviving female. 373 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:38,680 The term 'cannibalism' would later be used by the media 374 00:19:38,719 --> 00:19:42,119 to describe the act of eating human flesh. 375 00:19:42,159 --> 00:19:44,399 But the term is less than accurate. 376 00:19:44,439 --> 00:19:46,199 It's not cannibalism. 377 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:49,519 Cannibalism is usually when you kill somebody to eat. 378 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:53,479 What we had done was anthropophagy, which is completely different. 379 00:19:53,519 --> 00:19:56,199 Indeed the flesh-eating aspect of the story 380 00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:59,399 would be exploited in an early film made about the ordeal 381 00:19:59,439 --> 00:20:00,960 called Survive. 382 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:04,719 As a societal taboo, the idea of consuming human flesh 383 00:20:04,759 --> 00:20:07,759 has fascinated us since the earliest oral traditions 384 00:20:07,799 --> 00:20:09,240 and has found its way into 385 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:11,360 our contemporary culture and entertainment 386 00:20:11,399 --> 00:20:13,640 as a source of shock value. 387 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:14,920 Good lord! 388 00:20:16,199 --> 00:20:18,839 WOMAN: These are the extremes of human nature. 389 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:23,280 And certainly, if you're in the Andes, and you have to survive, 390 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:26,399 it's not a moral thing, it's not a religious thing. 391 00:20:26,439 --> 00:20:27,799 It's just survival. 392 00:20:27,839 --> 00:20:32,040 You would nowhere compare somebody's eating flesh to survive 393 00:20:32,079 --> 00:20:35,759 to somebody who's doing it to... out of evil. 394 00:20:35,799 --> 00:20:40,040 So it was horrifying and yet, necessary. 395 00:20:40,079 --> 00:20:42,839 The 1993 feature film Alive, 396 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,560 starring Ethan Hawke as Nando Parrado, 397 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,000 Josh Hamilton as Roberto Canessa, 398 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:50,119 and Gian DiDonna as Eduardo Strauch 399 00:20:50,159 --> 00:20:53,040 is a MOSTLY faithful account of the tragedy. 400 00:20:53,079 --> 00:20:57,079 Although a box office success, film critic Roger Ebert wrote, 401 00:20:57,119 --> 00:20:59,759 "There are some stories you simply can't tell. 402 00:20:59,799 --> 00:21:02,799 "The story of the Andes survivors may be one of them." 403 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:08,280 The truth about what Flight 571's passengers did to survive 404 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:10,759 can be found in evidence at the crash site, 405 00:21:10,799 --> 00:21:14,680 only now revealed after being hidden for half a century. 406 00:21:14,719 --> 00:21:15,799 ULYANA: Oh, wow. 407 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:20,920 They used to... They would cut the bones. 408 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:26,759 Eduardo has told me about... cut the bones to eat the marrow. 409 00:21:26,799 --> 00:21:29,560 I mean, they were so desperate, 410 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:32,439 they ate everything, every part of the body. 411 00:21:32,479 --> 00:21:35,479 That's another bone. 412 00:21:35,519 --> 00:21:38,479 Maybe a rib. Right. Like a rib. 413 00:21:42,199 --> 00:21:45,479 This is the view that they saw for 72 days. 414 00:21:45,519 --> 00:21:46,880 The mountains like this, 415 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:50,079 and El Sosneado, that 17,000 foot mountain. 416 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:51,640 Uh... 417 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:53,880 Eduardo remembers this so well, you know? 418 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:55,920 They looked at this for thousands of hours. 419 00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:59,439 And he has actually painted that mountain many times. 420 00:21:59,479 --> 00:22:02,560 This view is etched in the survivors' minds forever. 421 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:06,280 They saw it so many hours, so many days. 422 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,399 That ridge in the background and all of those little points, 423 00:22:09,439 --> 00:22:11,280 Eduardo has talked a lot about them. 424 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:13,719 He used to look at them for hours and think, 425 00:22:13,759 --> 00:22:15,640 "Wait, are those people coming through the ridge? 426 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:17,560 "Are those rescuers coming to see us?" 427 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:20,560 You know, and, obviously, there wasn't real movement, 428 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:22,839 it wasn't really a rescue. 429 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:25,560 EDUARDO: The moon give us light in the dark nights, 430 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:27,320 and we feel much better. 431 00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:29,560 The light of the moon just reflecting on the snow. 432 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:34,680 And then you also use the moon to try to connect with our mothers. 433 00:22:34,719 --> 00:22:37,280 Just sending them messages. 434 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:38,960 Looking to the moon 435 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:41,519 with the hope that they were looking to the same moon 436 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,799 and they would receive our message, "We are alive." 437 00:22:46,479 --> 00:22:48,479 The way we know that this is the exact spot 438 00:22:48,519 --> 00:22:49,719 where the fuselage was 439 00:22:49,759 --> 00:22:53,399 is because this is the only spot with all these ridges. 440 00:22:53,439 --> 00:22:56,759 That submarine shaped rock in the back ridge 441 00:22:56,799 --> 00:22:58,920 line up in this specific way. 442 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:01,560 Also, you can see those rocks 443 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:04,320 in many of the historical photographs 444 00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:06,719 that the survivors took during the ordeal. 445 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:11,600 On the 18th day of the ordeal, 446 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,159 disaster strikes in the dead of the night. 447 00:23:14,199 --> 00:23:16,960 The survivors are awakened by a loud rumbling sound, 448 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:18,719 like an approaching train. 449 00:23:18,759 --> 00:23:20,199 And before they can react, 450 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:23,560 an avalanche slams into the open end of the plane, 451 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:26,159 collapsing a wall they had built from luggage 452 00:23:26,199 --> 00:23:28,680 and filling the fuselage with packed snow. 453 00:23:30,399 --> 00:23:32,079 Eight are suffocated, 454 00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:35,399 including the last surviving crew member, the team's captain, 455 00:23:35,439 --> 00:23:39,640 and Liliana Methol, who had just begun to eat flesh with the others 456 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:42,280 because she said she wanted to live for her children. 457 00:23:43,399 --> 00:23:46,719 It was just such a tragedy that when she finally made the decision, 458 00:23:46,759 --> 00:23:49,119 you know, to eat the human flesh 459 00:23:49,159 --> 00:23:51,560 and to live for her four children, 460 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,040 that then she was taken by the avalanche. 461 00:23:54,079 --> 00:23:56,640 Just 19 souls remain. 462 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,920 They are trapped inside the completely buried fuselage 463 00:23:59,960 --> 00:24:02,399 and must poke a hole in the ceiling of the plane 464 00:24:02,439 --> 00:24:05,040 and insert a pipe in order to breathe. 465 00:24:05,079 --> 00:24:07,159 Not knowing how long they will be trapped, 466 00:24:07,199 --> 00:24:11,240 they resort to consuming flesh from the freshly dead for sustenance. 467 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:13,199 NANDO: When you have to do something like that, 468 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,600 you have to survive the only way that you can survive. 469 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:22,719 You realise that humans get used to horrible things very fast. 470 00:24:22,759 --> 00:24:24,439 After several days, 471 00:24:24,479 --> 00:24:28,280 some of the survivors are able to tunnel their way out of their coffin. 472 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,960 And in the weeks that follow, the sun melted away much of the snow 473 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:35,399 and exposes the fuselage to the elements once again. 474 00:24:36,839 --> 00:24:39,839 With an ample supply of frozen corpses for food, 475 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:42,519 some of the survivors set out on expeditions 476 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:47,159 to see how far away from the plane they can go and still return alive. 477 00:24:47,199 --> 00:24:48,799 These expeditionaries, 478 00:24:48,839 --> 00:24:51,040 generally the strongest or in the best health, 479 00:24:51,079 --> 00:24:52,880 are supported by the others, 480 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:55,439 who construct snowshoes out of seat cushions 481 00:24:55,479 --> 00:24:57,479 and a sleeping bag made by stitching together 482 00:24:57,519 --> 00:24:59,680 pieces of the plane's insulation. 483 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:02,680 One month after the crash, 484 00:25:02,719 --> 00:25:06,519 Nando Parrado, Roberto Canessa, and Antonio Vizintin 485 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:08,439 set off to the east. 486 00:25:09,399 --> 00:25:11,479 To their delight, they discover the tail of the plane 487 00:25:11,519 --> 00:25:13,280 which yields more candy. 488 00:25:14,439 --> 00:25:16,519 They also discover a camera in a suitcase, 489 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:20,799 which is used to take the photos we now have from their ordeal. 490 00:25:20,839 --> 00:25:24,399 Most important of all, they discover the plane's battery, 491 00:25:24,439 --> 00:25:26,640 which they hope they can hook up to the cockpit radio 492 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:28,079 and signal for help. 493 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:32,399 That experiment, however, is ultimately a failure. 494 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:37,079 When you guys dismantled the radio in the cockpit, 495 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:38,960 did you have to connect all those wires? 496 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,439 Was it like this kind of wire? Yes, absolutely. 497 00:25:42,839 --> 00:25:44,159 Hundreds of wires. 498 00:25:44,199 --> 00:25:46,759 The desperation of trying to make that work... 499 00:25:47,799 --> 00:25:49,119 Further up the south slope, 500 00:25:49,159 --> 00:25:52,759 Ricardo and Ulyana make some revealing discoveries. 501 00:25:52,799 --> 00:25:55,600 With global warming, this has melted all the ice and snow, 502 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:57,719 so we're down to barren rock. 503 00:25:57,759 --> 00:26:01,000 Look at that. That's... That's a seat. 504 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:03,159 The armrest. Oh, that's the armrest. 505 00:26:03,199 --> 00:26:05,439 Yeah, they had the ashtrays right there. 506 00:26:05,479 --> 00:26:07,159 A sweater. It's a sweater. Yeah. 507 00:26:07,199 --> 00:26:09,159 Look at it, you can even see the stitching. 508 00:26:09,199 --> 00:26:12,079 That's unbelievable. Look at this. 509 00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:13,759 Oh, wow, look. 510 00:26:13,799 --> 00:26:15,719 That's the wine bottle right? 511 00:26:15,759 --> 00:26:18,199 Yeah, yeah. I think that's the bottom of it. 512 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:19,360 Whoa! 513 00:26:20,439 --> 00:26:22,119 That's a coin. 514 00:26:22,159 --> 00:26:25,600 You know, if this... if it's from Uruguay, 515 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:29,759 and if it's got the year, we can totally confirm it's... 516 00:26:29,799 --> 00:26:33,000 What is it? "20... cents." Let me see. 517 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:34,360 Whoa. 518 00:26:36,399 --> 00:26:38,799 What does it say there? Oh, here. 519 00:26:38,839 --> 00:26:41,680 "Uruguay." Uruguay, yeah it does. Look at that. 520 00:26:41,719 --> 00:26:44,119 And, what is it? 70? 521 00:26:44,159 --> 00:26:45,519 Where is the year supposed to be on it? 522 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:47,079 Here, here. Uruguay. What is that? 523 00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:49,439 I think it's 1970? 524 00:26:49,479 --> 00:26:51,719 It's a '70'? I think it's a 7-0. 525 00:26:51,759 --> 00:26:53,920 Wow. (LAUGHS) Unbelievable. 526 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:55,759 Just laying out here. 527 00:26:55,799 --> 00:26:57,680 And look, there's so many more parts over there. 528 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:02,280 Whoa, what... (GASPS) 529 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:04,839 A pen! With ink still in it. Oh, yeah. 530 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:07,719 It's the cartridge of a pen, right? Oh, my gosh. 531 00:27:07,759 --> 00:27:09,799 That's unbelievable. 532 00:27:09,839 --> 00:27:12,799 As they examine tattered remnants of clothing, 533 00:27:12,839 --> 00:27:16,799 Ricardo and Ulyana discover something even more sobering. 534 00:27:16,839 --> 00:27:18,320 Look. Ohh... 535 00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:20,839 What is it? What is it? You have... 536 00:27:24,439 --> 00:27:26,159 You know what that is? You know what this is? 537 00:27:27,199 --> 00:27:28,600 I think this is skin. 538 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:32,360 Wow. As you can see... You see... 539 00:27:32,399 --> 00:27:35,240 Is that, like, the hair follicles? 540 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:37,399 Yeah. Look. 541 00:27:37,439 --> 00:27:38,439 Yeah. 542 00:27:38,479 --> 00:27:41,600 Wow. The preservation is unbelievable. 543 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:44,680 The team's discovery is the first of its kind. 544 00:27:44,719 --> 00:27:47,479 No-one has ever seen these remains before. 545 00:27:47,519 --> 00:27:49,839 You realise that... 546 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:52,240 ..all the people that died, 547 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:54,240 the survivors used to - 548 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:55,560 I think it's one of those - 549 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:59,920 they talk about making these socks out of this piece of skin... 550 00:27:59,960 --> 00:28:01,399 'Cause it's tougher? 551 00:28:01,439 --> 00:28:03,880 ..from the dead, and they would try to make it warmer for them, 552 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:05,360 for the expeditions. 553 00:28:05,399 --> 00:28:07,680 So they would cut parts like that of skin. 554 00:28:07,719 --> 00:28:09,759 Maybe something like that. 555 00:28:09,799 --> 00:28:13,119 But it's just so sad, you know, to see... It just brings it home. 556 00:28:13,159 --> 00:28:15,119 It's all these kids that died, 557 00:28:15,159 --> 00:28:17,360 so young, and horrible deaths. 558 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:21,960 I've never experienced finding human remains at a site. 559 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:23,839 I knew they were potentially there, 560 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:26,839 knowing what had transpired, and how the glacier was melting. 561 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:29,079 And I remember seeing it, 562 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:31,280 um, and... 563 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:33,560 ..being very moved, emotionally. 564 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:36,240 Who was this person? What happened? 565 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:39,159 And...it was tough. 566 00:28:39,199 --> 00:28:40,719 Yeah, it was tough to see that. 567 00:28:40,759 --> 00:28:43,040 So, when you find something like this, 568 00:28:43,079 --> 00:28:44,399 it's really sad, you know? 569 00:28:44,439 --> 00:28:46,320 Just knowing that this was a human being. 570 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:48,960 Yeah, yeah. What is the protocol? What do you do? 571 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:51,479 We could take it back to the cross 572 00:28:51,519 --> 00:28:55,560 and bury it under the rocks that are on the tomb. 573 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:57,399 Where all the other remains are. 574 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,520 As November rolls on, the survivors begin to lose hope. 575 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:07,160 During the 5th week after the crash, 576 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:10,959 2 more die from gangrenous wounds sustained from the crash. 577 00:29:10,999 --> 00:29:13,520 One young man, Numa Turcatti, 578 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:16,359 considered one of the toughest and fittest of the group, 579 00:29:16,399 --> 00:29:19,160 stops eating and begins wasting away. 580 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:23,039 He lasts nearly 4 weeks before succumbing to starvation. 581 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:26,160 2 months after the crash, 582 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:30,800 only 16 of the original 45 passengers remain alive. 583 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:33,399 Eating in the way that we were eating, 584 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:36,760 it was not enough to counter 585 00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:39,160 the energy that we were spending. 586 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:44,399 So we were getting thinner, even if we were eating that way. 587 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:48,920 So we understood that the situation was not going to be infinite there. 588 00:29:48,959 --> 00:29:51,440 We would have to find a solution, 589 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:53,599 or get out of there as soon as we can, 590 00:29:53,639 --> 00:29:57,319 because, finally, we were going to die anyway. 591 00:29:57,359 --> 00:30:00,560 More and more, Parrado begins to talk amongst the group 592 00:30:00,599 --> 00:30:03,760 about climbing to the top of the 15,000-foot head wall 593 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:05,039 to the west. 594 00:30:05,079 --> 00:30:07,359 It's a seemingly impossible task, 595 00:30:07,399 --> 00:30:10,800 but it's the only way, they believe, to find rescue. 596 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:14,840 Perhaps no other image captures the group's yearning 597 00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:17,399 that salvation lie just over that ridge 598 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:20,319 than this painting later done By Eduardo Strauch. 599 00:30:20,359 --> 00:30:23,399 It is titled simply To The West. 600 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:28,760 Having made up his mind to try to reach the head wall, 601 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:31,440 Nando requests two others to join him, 602 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:34,800 Roberto Canessa and Antonio Vizintin. 603 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,200 They agree, and the 3 are offered the best rations of food 604 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:40,359 in order to build up their energy. 605 00:30:40,399 --> 00:30:45,920 If I have to answer why did I took the decision to leave the fuselage 606 00:30:45,959 --> 00:30:50,560 and go into a...kamikaze trek, 607 00:30:50,599 --> 00:30:53,200 I go back, I retrace my mind, my steps 608 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:55,959 and I think it was fear of dying. 609 00:30:55,999 --> 00:30:57,760 I didn't want to die. 610 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:02,200 I had spat in the face of death so many times. 611 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:04,599 She embraced me and I didn't like it. 612 00:31:04,639 --> 00:31:05,840 I didn't like it. 613 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:08,719 I didn't want those mountains to steal away from me 614 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:11,079 my life, my future. 615 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:13,959 The possibility of having a child, a family. 616 00:31:13,999 --> 00:31:17,480 Before leaving, Parrado grants the group his permission 617 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:21,160 to do the unthinkable should the need arise. 618 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,800 I told them, you have to use my mother and my sister. 619 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:25,679 Their bodies, you can use them. 620 00:31:25,719 --> 00:31:27,079 You can do it. 621 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:29,359 They're only bodies now. 622 00:31:29,399 --> 00:31:32,520 And they're no different from my other friends. 623 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:35,599 After 61 days on the mountain, 624 00:31:35,639 --> 00:31:39,279 and with several days' rations of human flesh packed inside socks, 625 00:31:39,319 --> 00:31:40,560 they set off. 626 00:31:42,279 --> 00:31:45,760 After a full day, they barely get beyond the base of the head wall. 627 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:50,560 A second day of treacherous climbing takes them roughly halfway up, 628 00:31:50,599 --> 00:31:52,999 where they camp on a steep, snowy ledge. 629 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:32,760 On the 3rd day, Canessa and Vizintin stop shy of the summit, exhausted. 630 00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:35,639 But Parrado doggedly continues. 631 00:32:35,679 --> 00:32:37,440 And when he reaches the top, 632 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:40,560 instead of seeing the green valleys of Chile... 633 00:32:42,399 --> 00:32:45,079 ..this is what he sees. 634 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:50,760 RICARDO: When Nando got to the top of the mountain 635 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:53,120 and did not see the green valleys of Chile, 636 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:56,639 but instead realised he was surrounded by peaks all around him, 637 00:32:56,679 --> 00:32:58,520 he had to make a choice. 638 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:00,760 Go back to the fuselage and die, 639 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:03,679 or die trying to get out of there. 640 00:33:03,719 --> 00:33:05,800 Parrado coaxes Canessa to the top, 641 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:08,279 where the two discuss whether to go on. 642 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:10,639 Eventually, they decide that 643 00:33:10,679 --> 00:33:13,279 they should take all of Vizintin's food and supplies 644 00:33:13,319 --> 00:33:15,719 and send him back down to the fuselage. 645 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:18,279 Then they will continue ahead. 646 00:33:18,319 --> 00:33:21,120 I will die trying to cross this mountains. 647 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:23,760 I will do whatever I need to do, but I won't be here. 648 00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:25,240 I will not be here. 649 00:33:25,279 --> 00:33:29,679 It's just amazing to think that they had the courage and bravity 650 00:33:29,719 --> 00:33:32,959 to just go into the unknown, seeing what they were seeing. 651 00:33:32,999 --> 00:33:34,840 People say, "You were so courageous." 652 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:37,599 I was so afraid, you cannot imagine. 653 00:33:37,639 --> 00:33:39,200 So afraid. 654 00:33:40,399 --> 00:33:41,999 On December 2005, 655 00:33:42,039 --> 00:33:45,200 I set out to retrace the escape route of Nando and Roberto. 656 00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:48,039 I wanted to see what it was like for them to cross the Andes 657 00:33:48,079 --> 00:33:49,800 and what they experienced. 658 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:52,440 When I stood there and saw what they saw, 659 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:55,599 I just felt like, "God, these poor guys," you know? 660 00:33:55,639 --> 00:33:59,719 What a horrible choice, and what bravery 661 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:02,800 to launch themselves into the complete unknown. 662 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:05,599 You know, the chances of surviving are very, very low. 663 00:34:05,639 --> 00:34:09,359 Ricardo Pena documents his trek with GPS, 664 00:34:09,399 --> 00:34:11,920 and by taking a stunning set of photographs, 665 00:34:11,959 --> 00:34:14,760 snapped in exactly the same time of year 666 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:19,079 and along the exact same route Parrado and Canessa travelled. 667 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:23,520 The total distance they travelled was about 37 miles 668 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:26,959 of very rugged and challenging terrain. 669 00:34:28,039 --> 00:34:30,160 It's very impressive, what they survived, 670 00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:31,880 what they went through. 671 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:36,039 In the lower altitudes, the two expeditionaries encounter 672 00:34:36,079 --> 00:34:38,520 fresh water, grass, and other vegetation, 673 00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:39,999 which they relish. 674 00:34:40,039 --> 00:34:42,480 Their supply of human flesh, however, 675 00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:44,480 begins to spoil in the warmer weather, 676 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:46,800 and Canessa is stricken with dysentery. 677 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:51,279 Back at the crash site, the survivors hope and pray 678 00:34:51,319 --> 00:34:53,560 that their friends make it to freedom. 679 00:34:53,599 --> 00:34:56,480 In the meantime, they continue to feed on the remaining bodies 680 00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:58,079 of their dead friends. 681 00:35:01,039 --> 00:35:02,920 By the 10th day of their journey, 682 00:35:02,959 --> 00:35:07,079 Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa are weak and physically exhausted. 683 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:09,200 They have no idea where they are. 684 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:14,120 In actuality, they have crossed into Chile from Argentina, 685 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:16,560 and travelled nearly 40 miles, on foot, 686 00:35:16,599 --> 00:35:18,800 through steep and jagged terrain 687 00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:22,279 to arrive at a remote area of the Colchagua Provence 688 00:35:22,319 --> 00:35:25,480 near a mountain village called Los Maitenes. 689 00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:33,760 It is here where they spot something that they never thought they'd see. 690 00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:36,160 Across a river is a man on a horse, 691 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:38,679 an arriero or Andean herdsman, 692 00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:40,719 by the name of Sergio Catalan. 693 00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:43,920 While the river itself is impassable, 694 00:35:43,959 --> 00:35:46,120 Parrado hastily scribbles a note, 695 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:47,440 ties it around a rock 696 00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:49,920 and heaves it across the raging current. 697 00:35:53,599 --> 00:35:56,200 The man reads it and indicates he understands, 698 00:35:56,240 --> 00:35:58,079 and will return later with help. 699 00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:01,639 The next morning, he indeed returns, 700 00:36:01,679 --> 00:36:04,319 and Parrado and Canessa are saved. 701 00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:09,679 When the press gets word that two survivors of Flight 571 702 00:36:09,719 --> 00:36:11,679 have emerged from the Andes, 703 00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:13,840 crews rush to the remote site. 704 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:16,560 Authorities are sceptical when Parrado tells them 705 00:36:16,599 --> 00:36:19,800 how far into the mountains the fuselage lies. 706 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:22,200 So he is asked to accompany helicopter pilots 707 00:36:22,240 --> 00:36:23,840 to the site of the crash. 708 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:29,279 It is one final heroic moment 709 00:36:29,319 --> 00:36:34,399 for a man who had been left for dead 72 days earlier. 710 00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:36,639 Nando, you did something. 711 00:36:36,679 --> 00:36:38,440 And I congratulate myself. 712 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:40,279 Not because of what I did, 713 00:36:40,319 --> 00:36:42,560 but because when I look to my right 714 00:36:42,599 --> 00:36:45,440 and my wife is there, and my daughters are there, 715 00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:46,959 and my grandchildren, 716 00:36:46,999 --> 00:36:49,840 and they wouldn't be alive if I hadn't done that, 717 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:53,440 that's when I say, "Thank you, Nando. You did it." 718 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:55,440 The 14 who remain at the fuselage 719 00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:57,840 are rescued over the course of two days, 720 00:36:57,880 --> 00:37:00,920 just in time to celebrate Christmas with loved ones, 721 00:37:00,959 --> 00:37:03,599 most of whom had long given up hope. 722 00:37:24,039 --> 00:37:25,760 ULYANA: What it must've been like, 723 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:28,880 how horrific those circumstances were that they found themselves in, 724 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:31,079 that they didn't have the experience to know 725 00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:34,719 what was happening at altitude in these extreme conditions, 726 00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:39,279 how they had such will power and resilience to survive. 727 00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:06,440 The survivors can't keep their source of food a secret for long, 728 00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:10,039 and within days, sensationalised stories about cannibalism 729 00:38:10,079 --> 00:38:11,800 circulate in the press. 730 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:13,599 But the public at large, 731 00:38:13,639 --> 00:38:16,440 and even the Catholic church to which the boys belonged, 732 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:19,959 saw no cause to condemn what had to be done to survive. 733 00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:27,999 Irony is certainly part of the Andes survivors' story. 734 00:38:28,039 --> 00:38:30,560 Only 13 miles east of the crash site, 735 00:38:30,599 --> 00:38:34,800 directly down the valley, the survivors looked at for 72 days, 736 00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:37,639 is the Hotel Termas del Sosneado. 737 00:38:37,679 --> 00:38:41,359 These are the ruins of the former luxury resort today. 738 00:38:41,399 --> 00:38:43,679 While it was closed at the time of the crash, 739 00:38:43,719 --> 00:38:46,800 it could have provided shelter and safety from avalanches 740 00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:48,719 and possibly food. 741 00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:53,279 With the Andean glaciers continuing to melt away, 742 00:38:53,319 --> 00:38:55,480 only time will tell what other traces 743 00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:57,760 of history's greatest survival story 744 00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:00,359 will emerge from the Valley of Tears. 745 00:39:00,399 --> 00:39:04,440 Globally averaged, glaciers are shrinking about a metre per year. 746 00:39:04,480 --> 00:39:07,240 Obviously, that changes depending on which mountain range you are... 747 00:39:07,279 --> 00:39:09,520 For example, here, in the Andes, 748 00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:12,359 we see about 30m of loss, 749 00:39:12,399 --> 00:39:14,079 about that vertical loss, 750 00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:16,160 over this 50-year time frame. 751 00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:17,999 So it is disappearing. 752 00:39:18,039 --> 00:39:19,639 Where is the ice when you look at it? 753 00:39:19,679 --> 00:39:22,440 'Cause you just see all these rocks covering a landscape. 754 00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:24,760 And, in fact, the ice is still underneath, 755 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:26,800 it's just when a glacier starts to melt, 756 00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:30,160 any rocks that it's taken along for the ride as it's flowing downhill 757 00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:32,399 will start to melt out and be on top. 758 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:36,679 The one thing that the glacier still holds that we haven't seen 759 00:39:36,719 --> 00:39:38,160 is the fuselage, 760 00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:40,639 which is the most important part of the story. 761 00:39:40,679 --> 00:39:43,399 It was their shelter, what saved their lives. 762 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:45,599 The last time it was seen was in the '90s, 763 00:39:45,639 --> 00:39:49,800 when the survivors visited the site for the first time. 764 00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:52,880 There were no pictures taken. It was inside a crevasse. 765 00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:56,880 And that was the last it's ever been seen. 766 00:39:56,920 --> 00:39:59,079 Back in Mendoza, Argentina, 767 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:03,480 Eduardo Strauch views some of the finds Ricardo and Ulyana discover 768 00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:05,679 high up on the south ridge. 769 00:40:05,719 --> 00:40:09,160 He is particularly interested in the fate of one discovery. 770 00:40:10,279 --> 00:40:12,679 What did you do with the skin? With the piece of skin? 771 00:40:12,719 --> 00:40:16,760 So...we didn't want to leave it in the glacier... 772 00:40:18,039 --> 00:40:21,599 ..so I took it back to the cross and got a few rocks, 773 00:40:21,639 --> 00:40:23,399 put it in there, buried. OK. 774 00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:25,240 Do you think that was the right thing to do? 775 00:40:25,279 --> 00:40:27,599 Yeah. I believe that. 776 00:40:27,639 --> 00:40:31,480 While Eduardo finds solace in revisiting the site of the ordeal, 777 00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:33,520 others, like Nando Parrado, 778 00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:35,840 will likely never return again. 779 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:39,399 NANDO: I don't envision going, myself, into the crash site again, 780 00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:42,880 because I've been there, with my father, 781 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:45,440 putting flowers in the grave of my mother's and my sister's. 782 00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:46,920 And, uh... 783 00:40:46,959 --> 00:40:49,520 It's a... It's a gruelling thing to do. 784 00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:53,079 But some of the survivors go there. 785 00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:55,679 In the 50 years since 786 00:40:55,719 --> 00:40:58,560 what has become known as the 'Miracle in the Andes', 787 00:40:58,599 --> 00:41:01,719 only one of the 16 survivors has passed away, 788 00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:04,800 Javier Methol, the husband of Liliana. 789 00:41:06,079 --> 00:41:07,440 Javier, he was the oldest one. 790 00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:10,279 He was 16 to 17 years older than we were 791 00:41:10,319 --> 00:41:13,160 at the time of the crash. 792 00:41:13,200 --> 00:41:16,399 But all of the other, the 15, are perfectly OK. 793 00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:19,200 Each year, this sacred society of brothers 794 00:41:19,240 --> 00:41:22,399 meets to celebrate life and commemorate the dead. 795 00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:25,920 It is a private celebration, allowing no press or visitors, 796 00:41:25,959 --> 00:41:27,399 only family. 797 00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:31,520 We see each other quite a lot. 798 00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:34,760 Especially, I see five or six of them almost every week, 799 00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:39,399 on our rugby games, or we have dinner together, barbecues. 800 00:41:39,440 --> 00:41:42,440 So... They were my friends before the crash. 801 00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:45,319 They were my friends during the crash. 802 00:41:45,359 --> 00:41:47,800 And they are my brothers now. 803 00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:51,399 In 2002, the survivors played a symbolic rugby match 804 00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:53,920 against the Chilean Old Grange squad, 805 00:41:53,959 --> 00:41:57,319 which had been the original reason for their fateful flight. 806 00:41:58,760 --> 00:42:01,120 They flew across the Andes uneventfully, 807 00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:03,240 although flight attendants reported 808 00:42:03,279 --> 00:42:05,800 that they ran out of meals for the passengers. 809 00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:12,240 EDUARDO: We have seen, very clear, 810 00:42:12,279 --> 00:42:14,560 what are the important things in life 811 00:42:14,599 --> 00:42:17,480 and what are the not-important things. 812 00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:18,639 And, uh... 813 00:42:19,719 --> 00:42:22,480 That's one of the reasons that the mountain call me, 814 00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:24,880 and I'm here again, 50 years later. 815 00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:29,079 Celebrating the 50th anniversary is celebrating life, 816 00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:34,399 and a time to celebrate the memories of the friends who didn't make it, 817 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:36,319 of my family who didn't make it. 818 00:42:36,359 --> 00:42:39,279 But they would be proud and happy 819 00:42:39,319 --> 00:42:42,840 to see how our lives have developed. 820 00:42:42,880 --> 00:42:44,959 16 guys came out of there. 821 00:42:44,999 --> 00:42:47,560 Now we are more than 140. 822 00:42:47,599 --> 00:42:49,920 I reflect and I look back 823 00:42:49,959 --> 00:42:53,520 and I've been blessed with a fantastic life. 824 00:42:53,560 --> 00:42:55,160 A fantastic life. 825 00:43:31,200 --> 00:43:34,039 Captions by Red Bee Media (c) SBS Australia 2023