# Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes (13 October 1972)

URL: https://allhistories.com/uruguay/timeline/1972-uruguayan-air-force-flight-571-crashes-in-the-andes
Location: Andes, Mendoza Province, Argentina
Themes: main-event

On 13 October 1972 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, carrying a rugby team with relatives and friends from Montevideo to Santiago, crashed in the Andes in Argentina. The co-pilot wrongly believed they had passed Curico, descended, and struck a mountain ridge. Of 45 people aboard, 29 died from the crash or later from injuries, cold, starvation and an avalanche. Searchers called off the hunt after eight days. Sixteen survivors endured 72 days on the glacier, eventually eating the dead to stay alive. Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa set out for help and reached a Chilean herder, Sergio Catalan, who alerted authorities. Helicopters rescued the remaining survivors on 22 and 23 December 1972. The disaster drew worldwide attention and became one of the best known survival stories of the twentieth century, inspiring books and films. In Uruguay it coincided with the deepest phase of the political crisis and was followed closely at home. It is remembered as a story of endurance and of the bonds among the young middle class of Montevideo.

## Why it matters
A 72 day survival ordeal became an enduring story of endurance far from Uruguay.

Ruler at the Time: [Juan Maria Bordaberry](https://allhistories.com/uruguay/rulers/juan-maria-bordaberry)

## Sources
- [Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguayan_Air_Force_Flight_571)
- [History of Uruguay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Uruguay)
- [Civic-military dictatorship of Uruguay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civic-military_dictatorship_of_Uruguay)