The Craziest Plane Crash That Turned Survivors Into Cannibals 

I remember reading the book about it and I was really impressed by their resilience... Do you choose life or morals if you were in their position?

how can people hate on them for trying to survive

If I had died, I would be fine with my friends eating my dead body to keep themselves alive, I’m already dead.

Dude the story of the Chilean sheep herder who found them was definitely worth mentioning. His name was Sergio Catalan, he was with his son and when he understood the situation he threw bread and water across the river with a hopeful message. Then he rode his horse for hours to get them help. When he told police they called the rescue team to Santiago who at first didn't believe him, saying he was some drunk cowboy making up stories. He had to convince authorities his tale was real. Survivors visited him for years and some attended his funeral on 2020. He was hero, not some nameless person.

*Imagine judging them, while you're just there resting with comfortable life.*

I'm Uruguayan, and last year a survivor of the incident came to my school and told us all that happened, and they had agreed that if someone was to die, that person gave them permission to eat them, it was a pact between all of them.

It’s real easy to judge when you’re on the outside looking in

The "person" who rescued them his name is Sergio Catalan who was a herdsman and was on his horse when he found Nando and Roberto. He left his kids there to go back on his horse which took him 10 hours he did not stop to get to civilization and get help. The next day Sergio and the army went back to rescue. RIP Sergio Catalan 1929~2020.

This is the greatest survival story ever. The sacrifice, the effort and the hope that these people managed during the most difficult situation is extraordinary.

I dont care if you eat me, I'll be dead anyways.

"We'll die but we'll die trying." A qoute that lost its meaning until Nando and Canessa said it

I also survived a plane crash in 2015, crashed at 94 mph and then plane exploded after. The pilot and I both caught on fire, hair melted, skin burned off on 70% of the body and broke every joint. I am nearing full recovery 5 years later and a living example you can truly heal from anything💜

One of the most amazing survival stories, always gives me chills!!

You can't judge until you've been in that position. Your survival instincts take over. Easy to judge while sitting on a couch

I dont judge them one bit. I would've done the same. It's live or die, and I choose to live.

Here after Society of the Snow. Really appreciated this film and how true the story stayed to the actual event

It definitely helped that they were rugby players as they are incredibly strong physically and mentally.

“The back of the plane is the safest” *gets torn off the plane*

Hi! I'm uruguayan and wanted to point something out. When the video says that Nando Parrado didn't knew that the small gesture of trading places with his friend would end up saving his life, it's because later after hitting the first mountain peak the plane broke in two *just behind that seat*, the one Nando was sitting on after giving his back seat so his friend could watch the Cordillera. If he had not, he would have flown away on his seat, and that is what happened to his friend. Also, Roberto Canessa, who was 19 and a medical student at the time, was the first to make the cut through the human bodies so they could eat them, as he knew the human body well. He is now 66 years old and a cardiologist. He was and is saving human lives.

I’ve been hearing about this tragedy since I was a child, courtesy of my parents being Uruguayan. It’s truly crazy how people can judge other for trying to survive while they’re sitting comfortably on their phone. One can truly not judge if they’ve never found themselves in these situations.

mad respect to those men, can't imagine what they have been through

Only idiots would hate them for trying to survive

"Their journey was tracked by professionals years later." *draws a line from siberia to senegal*

Even though I am vegetarian now, but if I was in their place, I would have done the same to survive. Judging someone is easy when we can't feel what they had gone through.

"It's now Friday 13th and they take off" what

Hello I'm from Uruguay and I had a meeting with one of the survivors where he told us the complete story. I don't expect them to have all of the details but some important details are either wrong or missing. One of the details he gave me about the rations was that by day 3 (I believe) they heard on the radio that the search and rescue party had found the location of the plane, so everyone started feasting on the food like there was no tomorrow. It turned out that the S&R party mistook the plane crash with another thing (I can't remember with what but they didn't have a clue where the plane actually was). Also, a detail that they forgot to mention was that, both pilots, had made a mistake. They told the passangers that they had just flown over the city of Curicó, Chile when instruments were telling them otherwise. They mistook it with another city and thus when the survivors were trying to locate themselves, they assumed their position was elsewhere rather than where it actually was. Another thing I remember was that when they decided to resort to eating the dead, they all had agreed that if one of them was to die, the rest could feed from the recently deceased survivor and they were to tell the story to their relatives. Last, I recall him saying he didn't like the idea of flying on a Friday 13th, becasue he was superstitious and all.

no one is going to mention how amazing it is that one of them managed to sew a freaking blanket out of copper wires? thats some mvp hindsight

When it comes to surviving, your body and mind is prepared to do the most unthinkable tasks! Despite of extreme physical exhaustion, scarcity of food and no basic equipments they managed to get through such difficult path to seek help, this is some commendable amount of willpower!

What an incredible story and such strength of human spirit and will. Anyone who would criticise these amazing people for what they did to survive, do not know struggle.

If you werent there, then you dont have the right on condemning the acts on how they survived.

They literally had no choice but to turn to canibalism! People are so salty

The reason why people got mad at them after that newspaper report was because initially, the survivors hid the fact that they feasted on the dead, claiming they had cheese and were able to find plants. The only person they told was a priest in the sanctity of confession. Almost as soon as they were rescued rumors started floating around that they killed some of their friends so they could eat them, so the report along with the hiding of the fact made some people think they were savages.

The title of this video is not adequate for such a sensitive story. It was a tragedy and the survivors faced incredible challenges and made difficult decisions to remain alive and to return back with their families... This is a story of human resiliency, teamwork, faith, courage and survival. The way we describe and remember such events should be done with respect and sensitivity, honoring those who survived and those who did not make it, as well as their families.

I just can't fathom the 72 days part. That's utterly insane.

One of the survivors lives in my city, Porto Alegre, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil, near Uruguay. He is married with children and a new life. He hates to talk about the tragedy, rarely accepts to be interviewed. But when he does he always says the same thing: there was no other way to stay alive and he had chosen to live. That's says all.

Imagine being mad at them after all they went thru, some people are the worst!

“Would you have done the same? Tell us in the comments” Yes, I would’ve. and it looks like no one here in 2020 is criticizing their choices and is completely empathetic....so it’s great to see how far humanity and society has evolved mentally and emotionally since the 70s.....

If Im dead, i dont care. Eat me. Live and freeking prosper. If my dead husk can keep someone whos still alive going Idc eat me. Its the least I can offer right?

*Great, I’m going on a plane today.*

This is my first time knowing about this story,and honestly, you can't really blame them for eating other human, escpesially that they eat the one that already died. For the very,very least,they're not killing unwilling survivor to eat them, and remember that option is their last resort. Thanks to that,they have enough strenght to live for another day. Never understimate when human have their survival instinct kicked in. Also,thanks for their sheer determination and mental strenght, they defeat all of the odds and get themself rescued.

The human body is capable of doing things you could not imagine when it is trying to survive.

Cannibalism is more of an ideology, a cannibal is a person who chooses to consume another human being for pleasure or out of compulsion. When done purely for survival the label has no merit for me, never underestimate the human will to live nor shame the actions of those who have faced these do or die situations.

Man U really can’t make those judgements as a person who’s never experienced such situations. Your whole mentality changes when faced with death. It’s almost like your brain reprograms itself and will have u doing things you would never have imagined. I applaud those men for their bravery and not turning on each other

A classic infographic video thanks a lot! I'm always excited to see another video from this well-established RU-vid staple.

Imagine finding a use for a dead body to keep others alive no different than someone donating her organs when they pass away

I give y’all permission to eat me if I’m dead and you’re all starving.

Who else is here because they just watched the movie

watching the documentary on this with like actual survivors makes my heart break, it is so easy for other people to judge them when theyre looking in

No judgement from me, they did what they had to do to survive.

You morally have to choose life. The spirit is gone it is now a sack of kilocalories

Pls don’t forget to mention the dude who found them road over 130 km on horse to notify the authorities….. he definitely deserve to be on this video. His name was Sergio Catalan.

Eating flesh would never be easy, but my survival instincts would have overwritten anything else. Its the most primal instinct that tells us to eat and stay alive. They did what was needed to survive.

The unnamed Glacier got renamed Glacier of Tears after the incident. Let that sink in...

I would've resorted to cannibalism if my plane was just delayed for half an hour.

-22F is freezing where I am from in Canada. I work outdoors, and you have to wear layers of clothing in an 8-10 hour day. To survive overnight, without being dressed for the elements would be a nightmare. Without food, warm clothing, and medical supplies, it's amazing anyone survived those conditions.

I watched three of the men in recent years be interviewed and speak about this. Incredible ppl thriving at life.

0:00 "Imagine you and your best buddies are-" *Bold of you to assume I even have buddies*

Honestly if I'm dead and someone needs to eat me just to survive...go ahead. I'm dead, I'm sure my family would be sad there's no body but at least another family won't have to be sad about having someone dead. At least my death won't be in vain. I honestly don't understand why people would judge someone for resorting to cannibalism of someone already dead when there's no other choice except death.

I cannot imagine having to do what they did. The emotions they went through, having to eat their loved ones like their friends/family to be able to survive. They were strong mentally, to be able to do that. They were smart too, having stitch up a blanket using wires.

Killing people to eat them is one thing, but if there's already bodies and you're going to starve, go for it.

Atleast they were fit players who had capacity to survive .

These stories are absolutely amazing.

"I gonna eat the Pilot..." Bruh hes still alive "i know"

Moral of the story: Don’t go cheap on flight tickets.

People who mad at them for eating human meat never starved.

The movie on this story is out on Netflix now called Society of Snow, amazing portrayal of what happened nominated for an Oscar 💪🏼👏🏼

also forgot to mention how incredible it was that only three people that weren’t buried by the snow and managed to save 13 other people who were buried in the snow in only two minutes 🤯

You can't judge them unless you've been in that situation yourself, to the point where you're so hungry, your brain simply switches over into survival mode.

I’m from Uruguay and one day Roberto Canessa came to our school to talk about what happened, it was an incredible story, a true miracle. I recommend to watch the movie ALIVE, it is about this

My 1st ever infographics show video Which made me addicted to the other videos Thank you!😁

Carlitos Paez is actually the son of a artist and had an upper-class background. He always noted that he never lifted a finger his whole life, even had breakfast in bed and his own nanny. The crash thrusted him to grow up and he clearly rose to the occasion when he sewed the sleeping bags, contributing to the survival of those who walked out of the mountains.

If I die, you can hollow out my body and make a skin suit. To keep you entertained while waiting for rescue. You're welcome.

Those guys are the toughest of the tough. Dudes did beyond what even military forces today would dare to do. These people have my upmost respect and should be awarded something for their bravery

1:29 You did amazingly good when animating the plane. That is after all similar to what a Fairchild FH227D looks like.

Never question a man who had been pushed to the limits of his existence 🤚

You should see the movie “Alive” with Ethan Hawke. It is about this event.

Interesting fact: there's a memorial on the exact place where the plane crashed

This story was told by my school teacher 20 years back and I still remember it.

If you want some more details you should watch the movie Society of the snow

WHY TF WOULD YOU BE MAD AT PEOPLE FOR NOT WANTING TO DIE

I am severely disappointed in the people that turned on the group when they confessed that they turned to cannibalism. They had no food! Eventhough it’s a tough and depressing decision, they HAD to eat their friends to survive. Matter of fact, the only person who did die was the one guy that didn’t resort to cannibalism. I know it’s a tough choice, but sometimes you have to eat other people to survive.

the fact that it happened friday 13th just blows my mind

Don’t lie.. Netflix brought you here

How CAN SOMEBODY DISLIKE THE VIDEO WHEN IT HASNT EVEN BEEN UP LONG ENOUGH TO WATCH THE WHOLE THING

The soul is more powerful then the body. Humankind can survive beyond its limits

How anyone could judge them is beyond me . Amazing story of will

If you are alive...then only you can live! So try hard to be alive first! Thanks for this touching video!

as soon as you said it was friday the 13th i knew they were toast

The most inspiring thing here for me was the moment they heard that search parties would no longer search for them so they were like “If the world wont find us,then we will” really heart warming.

"we'll die, but we'll die trying" they didn't die.

Watching a infographics video is the best way to keep entertained the full day

I remember when reading the book : They ate the pilot first as it was his fault that they crashed. lol

10 minutes after the plane crashed..."Bruh, I'm gonna eat the pilot"

This is now one of my favorite RU-vid channels

The fact that they tried to eat leather something that has little to no nutritional value and like he said would probably poison them instead of resulting to cannibalism shows that they obviously didn’t want to do it as most of us would. Survival is tough and it’s even worse when you don’t have any food to be honest they Shouldn’t have even made it out of there at all

The real thing is, nobody knows if we’d turn to cannibalism to survive. That’s the last resort, and we cannot be sure of our actions until we’re in the moment.

Well it’s a pretty unforgettable weekend if you ask me🤷‍♂️

Anyone who says “I could NEVER, eat human flesh” can NEVER comprehend what it’s like to be in sub freezing temperatures and starving.

The fact that two of them have conquered one of the local mountains before ANYONE ELSE IN HISTORY while looking for the escape route is just unbelievable. They used their bare hands to dig into the snow to climb it, with no winter clothing, no gear and especially no energy. By the way depicting them wearing jackets or gloves is false, all they had were clothes they wore during flight (until some of their runners rached the back part of the plane where luggage was)

They made an amazing movie about in the 90s it’s called “Alive”. It gives a more in depth visual look to the loss, choices, and physical toll they all took.