Andes 1972 plane crash museum

On Friday, October 13, 1972, a Uruguayan Fairchild 227 airplane carrying a rugby team of young men on board crashed in the Andes. This was the beginning of one of the most overwhelming stories of survival in human history. Initially, 32 people survived the crash against one of the world's highest mountain ranges. Many of the passengers were seriously injured. At almost 4000 metres above sea level, with neither appropriate clothing nor food, surrounded and trapped in the mountains, they were virtually doomed to perish from the extremely low temperatures. Their very limited provisions, consisting of a few sweets, some cans of food and a couple of bottles of alcoholic beverages, quickly ran out. For ten long days they waited to be rescued. Then they heard on the small pocket receiver that the search had been called off.
But things got even worse on the eve of day 17 when an avalanche of snow hit them while they were sleeping in the remains of the fuselage, burying them completely and killing eight people. From the 45 passengers and crew members, finally only sixteen survived. In order to withstand the bitter cold and inhospitable weather conditions in the mountains, with temperatures below -30 ºC (-22 ºF), they were forced to re-invent many things.
For instance,

• They devised a system for producing water from snow, despite the extremely low temperatures.
• They used the fabric of the seat covers as quilts.
• They handcrafted sunglasses to protect themselves from the intense solar radiation, etc.

The most critical issue they had to face was the lack of food, which forced them to make the very tough, distressing and controversial decision of having to use the bodies of their dead mates.
Trapped as they were in this desperate situation they made several attempts to get out of that valley. During one of these expeditions they reached the tail of the airplane where they discovered the insulation material of the air conditioning unit. With this material they devised a large sleeping bag by sewing the pieces together with copper wires from the electric system.
The final and successful expedition was undertaken by two of the young men. Exhausted after hiking for 10 long and endless days over the rugged mountainous terrain, with neither climbing gear nor proper clothing, they finally came across a cattle drover. This man then had to ride for 8 hours to the next police station in order to report the encounter and seek help. His response –and generous attitude– put an end to the 72 days of horror, pain, hunger, desperation… but also brought hope back to their lives.
In January 1973, when the site became easier to access after the snow had melted, the bodies were –finally– buried. The chosen place lies 800 m away from the impact zone, on the glacier's southern shoulder. A one-metre high iron cross was erected at the top of the stone pile. The cross bears the following inscriptions, which are still legible: “The World to Its Uruguayan brothers” and on the rear, “Nearer, O God, To Thee”. The main part of the hull, which had served as their dwelling throughout the ordeal, was splashed with gasoline and set on fire. With time it was gradually swallowed up by the glacier, in its slow westward drift.”