Survivors of the 1972 plane crash who lasted for 72 days by eating the bodies of dead friends have spoken out in a new documentary – as a new Netflix drama about the disaster shocks viewers.
Coche Inciarte, Eduardo Strauch and Fernando Parrado are among the passengers who survived the full ten-week period after the crash before they were finally rescued.
They are depicted in the new Spanish-language film Society of the Snow, which was released last week – more than 30 years on from 1993 American drama Alive.
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which was bound for Santiago, Chile, lost its wings when it hit a mountain ridge in the Andes, with the remaining fuselage coming to rest on a glacier.
Whilst 12 were killed outright, of the 33 passengers who initially survived 17 went on to die amidst the harrowing conditions, including several avalanches.
Of the original 45 passengers and crew, 19 were members of Uruguay’s Old Christian’s rugby team, whilst others were their friends, family and supporters.
Channel 5 documentary Andes Plane Crash: Terror at 30,000 feet, which airs tomorrow evening, recalls the incredible survival story.
Strauch, who went on to forge a career as an architect, tells in show how he was told by his cousins Fito And Daniel that he needed to eat the flesh of his dead friends, “otherwise you will get very weak.”
Survivors of the 1972 plane crash who lasted for 72 days by eating the bodies of dead friends have spoken out in a new documentary – as a new Netflix drama about the disaster shocks viewers. Above: Survivors including Coche Inciarte (centre) smiling for a photo in front of the wreckage of the plane
He adds: ‘We started eating very small pieces and starting feeling a little bit better with the protein.’
The plane – which had been carrying its passengers to a rugby match against the Old Boys team in Santiago – crashed after starting its descent too early.
The inexperienced co-pilot, Lieutenant-Colonel Dante Héctor Lagurara, was at the controls when disaster struck.
He tried to gain enough altitude to clear a looming mountain peak but was unsuccessful.
Lagurara and five other passengers died during the first night after the crash.
The only food they had were eight chocolate bars, a tin of mussels, a few dates, a tin of almonds, three tiny jars of jam, dried plums, sweets and several bottles of wine.
Parrado, who along with fellow survivor Roberto Canessa hiked through the Andes to get help, says of the decision to eat the bodies: ‘I can assure you that having been there with us on that situation you would have arrived at the same conclusion at the same moment and you would have done exactly the same thing.’
Inciarte, who died last July aged 75, says that the group made a ‘pact’ to eat each other if they died.
Fernando Parrado, who along with fellow survivor Roberto Canessa hiked through the Andes to get help, says of the decision to eat the bodies: ‘I can assure you that having been there with us on that situation you would have arrived at the same conclusion at the same moment and you would have done exactly the same thing’. Above: Parrado in the documentary and shortly after being rescued
Coche Inciarte, who died last July aged 75, says that the group made a ‘pact’ to eat each other if they died. Right: Inciarte (centre) with fellow survivors at the crash site
Strauch, who went on to forge a career as an architect, tells in the show how he was told by his cousins Fito And Daniel that he needed to eat the flesh of his dead friends, “otherwise you will get very weak.”
Survivors are seen with their arms in the air as they are pictured by rescuers
The upcoming film, Society of the Snow, is based on the 1972 Andes flight disaster – 12 passengers died immediately, 17 others died from injuries and suffocation via avalanche
Society of the Snow is an adaptation of Pablo Vierci’s 2009 book and is directed by J.A. Boyena
Society of the Snow is told through the narrative of rugby player Numa Turcatti (right), who is played by Enzo Vogrincic (above left). The 25-year-old was the last crash survivor to die and spent his birthday buried under the snow inside the fuselage after the avalanche had hit them the night before
Matías Recalt and Agustín Pardella in Society of the Snow
The area of the crash is known as the Valley of Tears and temperatures can reach -40C. Above: A scene from Society of the Snow, which has filmed at the actual crash site
The disaster claimed 26 lives in total and those who managed to cheat death were forced to resort to cannibalism to stay alive. Above: A scene from Society of the Snow
The harrowing story was shot at the actual site of the crash which is around 12,000 feet above sea level. Above: A scene from Society of the Snow
The movie is an adaptation of Pablo Vierci’s 2009 book, which contained accounts of the 16 survivors
Society of the Snow follows on from 1993 film Alive, which starred John Haymes Newton, Josh Hamilton and Ethan Hawke
A scene from 1993 film Alive, as the stranded passengers spot rescuers in the sky
Ethan Hawke in a scene from 1993 film Alive. He portrayed Fernando Parrado
‘If I die you can take my body. If I die you can do the same. And that made me decide to eat,’ he says in the programme.
‘At last they accepted the idea and we could start eating the bodies.’
Another survivor, Gustavo Zerbino, said in the Daily Mail in 1999: ‘All of us made a deal that if we were going to survive, we had to survive together, that we would do nothing unless everyone agreed.
‘We had nothing to eat. The only source of energy available to us were the bodies of our friends who had died.
‘We began to talk about this. I remember saying: “Listen, this is the only way to survive. If we don’t do it, we will all die in two or three days.
‘We were all lucky not to have been killed in the crash and then the avalanche. God wanted us to live and given us a way of doing so. It was a unique time in the mind.
‘At first, if any of us didn’t want to eat, then nobody would eat.
‘One person was afraid to do it, but he had a wife and four kids to live for. Some of us told him that he must do it. I said: “If I die and you don’t eat me, you are stupid.”
‘We waited one, maybe two days until everyone agreed. I hated having to do it but my attitude now is exactly the same as it was then.
‘If I crashed tomorrow in exactly the same circumstances, then you need to eat human flesh so you can walk through the mountains and find rescue services to get everyone out.’
After temperatures had increased with the changing weather, Parrado and Canessa spent ten days hiking to get help.
They came across a group of Chilean shepherds, who helped them and the others get rescued by the Chilean Air Froce.
Society of the Snow is an adaptation of Pablo Vierci’s 2009 book, whilst the 1993 film was based on British author Piers Paul Read’s 1974 book, Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors.
However, unlike Society of the Snow, Alive was not filmed at the crash site.
Canessa, who is portrayed in the film by Matias Recalt, previously recalled the agonising decision to eat the bodies of the passengers who had died.
‘For a long time, we agonized. I went out in the snow and prayed to God for guidance,’ he wrote in his autobiography I had to Survive: How a Plane Crash in the Andes Inspired my Calling to Save Lives.
Survivors of the Uruguayan plane crash in the Andes in the fuselage of the wrecked aircraft shortly after rescuers reached them
The survivors of Andes air crash sitting beside the plane during their time stranded without any apparent hope of rescue
The crashed plane fuselage, buried in the snow
Nando Parrado is seen left after being rescued. Right: Survivor Carlos Páez Rodríguez embraces his father after being rescued
Canessa, who is now a pediatric cardiologist, added: ‘Without His consent, I felt I would be violating the memory of my friends; that I would be stealing their souls.’
‘We wondered whether we were going mad even to contemplate such a thing. Had we turned into brute savages?,’ he continued.
‘Was this the only sane thing to do? Truly, we were pushing the limits of our fear.’
He told how, after portions of flesh were removed from bodies of their friends, they were laid out on a piece of sheet metal and were then taken by each survivor when they felt able to.
Society of the Snow is told through the narrative of rugby player Numa Turcatti, who is played by Enzo Vogrincic.
The 25-year-old was the last crash survivor to die and spent his birthday buried under the snow inside the fuselage after the avalanche had hit them the night before.
Towards the end of his life, Numa stopped eating and weighed 3.92 stone (55 pounds) at the time of his death.