Survivor roberto canessa relives 1972 plane crash in the andes. Members of the old christians rugby team stand near the fuselage of their uruguayan air force f227 plane two months after it crashed while ferrying them to a match in chile. Russian khl hockey team jet crash is latest tragic crash to devastate sports world of the 45 passengers on the plane, 27 survived the crash. Strauch survived the 1972 andes plane crash of the uruguayan rugby team. Southeastern psychologist links andes crash and survival. Roberto canessa was a secondyear medical student with the world at his feet when the plane he had chartered with his rugby team mates and childhood friends crashed into the mountains. Eduardo strauch was one of the few passengers to live through a 1972 plane crash above in the andes. The team was stranded for 72 days in the bitter cold without only a couple cans of sardines, chocolate, and several bottles of liquor.
A true and awe inspiring story of survival and unrelenting hope. Colombia crash reminiscent of 1972 uruguayan rugby tragedy. Dec, 2014 a plane carrying a team of young rugby players, with family members and friends crashed in the andes mountains on oct th 1972. Nprs lulu garcianavarro speaks with him about his story of hope in his book, out of the silence. Bad weather forced an unscheduled landing in mendoza, argentina. The flight carried fortyfive passengers, including fifteen members of the old christians rugby team. A group of chilean mountaineers pose for a photo at the wreckage of a plane that crashed in the andes 54 years ago, killing 24 people, including eight members of a professional soccer team.
Uruguayan rugby team plane crash book piers paul read. Members of the amateur old christians club rugby union team from montevideo, uruguay, were scheduled to play a match against the old boys club, an english rugby team in santiago, chile. The survivors not only had to withstand the hunger and the fearful mountains, but also 30 degreebelowzero. Instead, the plane crashlanded in a desolate glacial valley, high in the andean cordilleraa. Uruguayan air force flight was a chartered flight that crashed on a glacier in the remote andes in among the 45 people on board, 28 survived the crash. Survivor of 1972 andes plane crash who resorted to. Rugby team plays 40 years after andes plane crash forced. After the plane crashand the cannibalisma life of hope. The plane crashed into the andes mountains on friday, october, 1972. Now, hes written a book about his gruesome experience, which lasted for months.
Andes plane crash survivor who had to eat his comrades. After numerous days spent searching for survivors, the. Canessa was one of 16 members of the uruguayan rugby team to survive the crash of a flight carrying 45 passengers and crew. The plane, traveling from uruguay to chile, went down over the andes mountains after on october, 1972. It was over two months earlier, on october, 1972, when the chartered plane carrying the rugby team to santiago, chile, crashed in the andes mountains. With ethan hawke, vincent spano, josh hamilton, bruce ramsay. After more than 40 years so many artifacts are still at the site. A uruguayan rugby team stranded in the snow swept andes are forced to use desperate measures to survive after a plane crash. On december 21, 1972, two members of a rugby team from uruguay who had been walking through the snowcapped andes mountains in. With james lentzsch, benjamin josse, kelly haitz, cindy latch.
Both were challenging to watch, but i had no idea about the real extent of this tragedy. After an overnight stop, the flight resumed but the terrible weather still hampered progress. Chilean soccer teams plane found five decades after. Uruguayan rugby team, who were forced to eat human flesh to stay alive after plane went down, play match postponed in 1972 associated press in. The plane crash brings to mind a widely publicized disaster that followed in 1972, when a uruguayan aircraft carrying a rugby team went down in the andes in argentina, near the border with chile. Survivor of the 1972 andes plane crash describes the. Despite suffering from cold and hunger, 19yearold roberto canessa and 21yearold fernando parrado insisted on helping the rescue effort. The story of the andes survivors alpine expeditions. Rugby team plays 40 years after andes plane crash forced cannibalism the old christians club play the old grangonian club in santiago to mark the 40th anniversary of the crash made famous by a. Of the 45 people on the flight, only 16 survived in subzero temperatures. Survivor roberto canessa recalls decision to eat friends. The story of the uruguayan rugby team, whose airplane crashed in the andes mountains in 1972 and had to resort to cannibalism to survive until their rescue, has strong roots in the history of human evolution, according to a southeastern louisiana university psychology professor.
Is a magnificent book, for a hard story, the story of rugby team from uruguay, after your plane crashed on the andes mountains in october of 1972. Although the book alive charting the andes plane crash in 1972 and surviving against the odds for 72 days was well researched and told the story vividly. The book starts with a bit of background on the boys, their school and rugby team and the decision to charter a plane. Nprs lulu garcianavarro speaks with him about his story of hope in his book. The 16 eventual survivors lived for three months before their rescue on dec. On october 12 1972, a plane carrying stella maris college rugby team plus coaches and supporters took off from montevideo. Andes plane crash survivor roberto canessa on eating his. The fairchild f227 left carrasco airport and landed in mendoza.
October, 1972 a uruguayan rugby team crashed into the andes mountains. On friday th october of 1972, an uruguayan plane, which was carrying 45 passengers to chile, most of whom were students and rugby players, crashed in the andes mountains. The aircraft carried 40 passengers and 5 crew members. Survivors were forced to eat the bodies of their dead. The last eight survivors of the uruguayan air force plane crash in the andes in south america, huddle together in the crafts fuselage on their final night before rescue on dec. The plane crash that wiped out most of a topflight brazilian soccer squad late monday evoked memories of the 1972 uruguayan rugby tragedy that spawned the book and hit. Masterfully written for piers paul read, about the journey of survivors for save yourselves. Rugby teams fabled survival in andes as uruguay take on england, sky speaks to one of the uruguayan rugby players involved in a miracle tale of. The team had an intercollege match fixture in santiago, chile. In 1972 the old christians club charted a uruguayan air force plane to transport the team from montevideo, uruguay, to santiago, chile. Former members of uruguays rugby team who survived a 1972 plane crash in the chilean andes hold a minute of silence after the unveiling a plaque with pictures of family members and friends who died in the crash, in santiago, chile, saturday, oct. The story of the andes survivors by piers paul read.
Roberto canessa was on board the charter plane when it crashed in 1972 he was a 19yearold student travelling to a rugby match with his team of. Roberto canessa md roberto canessa is known worldwide for being one of the 16 young men of a total of 45 who survived 72 days in the andes under extreme conditions, when the plane he and his rugby teammates were in crashed into a mountain in the middle of the snowcapped andes cordillera. Wreck of chilean plane which crashed in andes 54 years ago. Alive, by piers paul read, chronicles the harrowing tale of survivors of an airplane crash. Fortyfive years on, mr parrado retells his incredible story of survival. Ive seen a feature film and a documentary about events. A documentary explores the crash of the plane carrying the. In the impact, 12 people died and during the first night, 3 more people passed away.
In addition to club members, friends, family, and others were also on board, having been recruited to help. Uruguay rugby team plays match 40 years after andes crash members of a uruguayan rugby team have played a match that was postponed four decades ago when their plane crashed in the andes, stranding. Members of a uruguayan rugby team survived the air crash in the. Four young men freezing cold, starving and struggling to. Its passengers included the christian brothers, a catholic uruguayan rugby team and their friends and relatives. A true story, this book recounts how the plane crashed and the things the. On friday, the th of october, 1972, a charter plane carrying 45 passengers, including a college rugby team, vanished over the desolate, snowcovered andes. Eduardo strauch survived the 1972 andes plane crash of the uruguayan rugby team. In 1972, a plane carrying young men from a uruguayan rugby team, crashed high in the andes. Reading the crash was so well explained i felt i was experiencing it too.
The story of the andes survivors is a 1974 book by the british writer piers. Stella maris college rugby team airplane crash 1972. Roberto canessa was a secondyear medical student and a member of the old christians rugby team when the plane they were traveling on crashed in the andes. Story of the 1972 andes plane crash in out of the silence. Members of a uruguayan rugby team survived the air crash in the andes in 1972 by eating the frozen remains of those who had died. How a plane crash in the andes inspired my calling to save lives, due out march 1. Alive is a 1993 american biographical survival drama film based on piers paul reads 1974 book alive. Eduardo strauch recalls eating friends after plane crash. There have been other books, and the movie alive, about this event. Club president daniel juan chartered a uruguayan air force twin turboprop fairchild fh227d to fly the team over the andes to santiago. Fernando parrado, now 67, was only 22 when he was in a plane crash that left 16 survivors in the andes mountains for 72 days. Canessa recounts this struggle and others he faced following the tragic crash in his new book i had to survive. Without it, the 16 survivors out of 45 in a famous 1972 plane crash in the andes that decimated a uruguayan rugby team wouldnt have made it through 72 days in.
Uruguay rugby team plays match 40 years after andes crash. The andes plane crash survivors is the tale of flight 571, which never made it to chile. Nando parrado recalls surviving 1972 andes plane wreck. The story of the andes survivors, which details a uruguayan rugby teams crash aboard uruguayan air force flight 571 into the andes mountains on october, 1972.