The Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, a story primarily about pilot error resulting in many deaths, is also about extreme survival. Also known as Miracle Flight 571, a chartered flight from Montevideo, Uruguay, set for Santiago, Chile, carrying 40 passengers and five crew members, crashed into the Andes mountains on October 13th, 1972.
Those who survived the impact weren’t rescued. In fact, they were lost for 72 days in -30 degree temperatures, at an extremely high altitude and with little to no food, while the rest of the world thought they were dead. This is their story.
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The flight details
The Uruguayan Air Force Fairchild FH-227D, which was four years old in 1972, was chartered by the Old Christians Club rugby union team to take its members and family to play a match against the English Old Boys Club in Santiago. On October 12th, the twin-engine turboprop departed from Montevideo Airport, but the team stopped in Argentina for the night due to a storm.
The next day, the aircraft left at 14:18, and the pilots decided to fly a course south to the Pass of Planchón, Britannica explained. Pilot Julio Ferradas, who had flown across the Andes 29 times, was training a co-pilot, Dante Lagurara.
