Andes Crash Memorial Museum

The story of the 1972 plane crash in the Andes has been in my consciousness for many years, especially after watching the film of the story, Alive, on its release in 2007.

On Friday October 13th 1972, a Uruguayan Fairchild 237 plane with a rugby team on board crashed into the Andes.  This was the beginning of one of the most remarkable stories of survival in human history.

Initially, 33 people survived the crash.  Many of them were seriously injured.  At 4000 metres above sea level, with no appropriate clothing and little food, surrounded by and trapped in the mountains, they almost died from the extremely low temperatures.  Their very limited provisions consisting of a few sweets, some canned food, and two bottles of alcohol, soon ran out.  For ten long days, they waited to be rescued.  Then they heard in a pocket radio receiver they had that the search for them had been called off.

On day 16, an avalanche hit them while they were sleeping in the remains of the fuselage, burying them completely and killing eight of their number.  In subsequent days, more of the group died until only 16 of the original 45 crew and passengers remained.

In order to withstand the extreme weather conditions and temperatures below -30°C, the group repurposed lots of things.  They learned how to produce water from snow and made quilts out of the plane's seat covers.  The most critical issue, though, was what to do about the lack of food.  In the end, they made the tough and controversial decision to survive by eating the flesh of the dead.

In the midst of this desperate situation, the survivors made many attempts to escape the valley they were trapped in.  The final and successful attempt was made by two of them.  After walking for ten long and gruelling days, they came across a cattle drover.  He rode for eight hours to get help which finally led to the rescue of the remaining crash survivors 72 days after their plane went down.

The museum was one of the best I have visited in terms of how it told the story of the incident.  No photos were allowed inside.

After visiting the museum, I walked back through the quiet historic centre to the hostel.  On the way, I popped into Montevideo's Metropolitan Cathedral.Read more