Thursday 12th : Fairchild F 227 takes off from Carrasco Airport and lands in Mendoza.

Friday 13th : Takes off from Mendoza and crashes into the Andes. Twelve passengers die in the crash and three others die that night.

Saturday 14th : Vizintín is badly injured and doesn’t stop bleeding. They manage to stop the haemorrhage. Dante Laguardia, the co-pilot, is found dead. Midday Mrs Mariani dies.

Sunday 15th : Adolfo Strauch invents a device to turn snow into water. Fernando Parrado regains consciousness and takes care of his sister who is seriously injured. After midday three planes are sighted. They fly past them. A bit later, another plane flies over the Fairchild and moves its wings in a way that makes survivors believe they have been seen. They think they will soon be rescued, though it does not happen that day. In the evening, Marcelo Pérez, captain of the rugby team, realizes someone has been eating the scarce food that was being rationed.

Monday 16th : Canessa builds hammocks, which are used by Rafael Etchevarren and Arturo Nogueira. Fito Strauch finds outs that if they tie the cushions to their feet, they would not sink in the snow.

Tuesday 17th : Carlitos Páez, Turcatti, Canessa and Fito Strauch walk to the mountain trying to find the tail of the plane. Strauch falls into a crack in the mountain but is rescued by his mates. Exhausted and having found nothing at all they return.

Saturday 21st : Susana Parrado dies in her brother’s arms.

Sunday 22nd : A meeting is held inside the wreck. It is decided to use the dead bodies to feed themselves, as no kind of food is to be found in the mountains and the scarcity of sustenance is alarming. Canessa is the one who deals with the topic first but some others reject the idea.

Monday 23rd : Using a radio that was kept inside the Fairchild they hear the news. They get to know that they have stopped looking for them. The rescue team gave up having had no positive results whatsoever.
Turcatti, Maspons and Zerbino go up the mountain following the path left by the sliding of the plane downwards. They decide to spend the night in the mountain and go on the following day.

Tuesday 24th : They keep on climbing and find parts of a wing of the plane, the dead body of a friend, three members of the Old Christians and two members of the crew. They return to the plane with no news about the tail.

Sunday 29th : Late in the evening, when the survivors were getting ready to spend another night in the fuselage something unforeseeable happened. An avalanche. A never-ending mass of snow fell down the mountain filling the fuselage covering the wreck completely, burying those who were lying. Those who are able, try to rescue the ones still buried under the snow. That night eight people die under the snow. There are only 19 survivors then.

Monday 30th : Numa Turcatti’s birthday is celebrated inside the fuselage, as there is a terrible storm and they are still buried under a thick layer of snow.

Tuesday 31st : It’s Carlitos Páez birthday and is celebrated as Numa’s.



NOVEMBER 1972

Wednesday 1st : The weather starts getting better and they tidy the plane a bit. It’s Pancho Delgado’s birthday. The following days they make spades to get rid of the snow inside the fuselage and take the dead bodies out of the plane. François and Inciarte climb 100 metres and return. Turcatti and Algorta climb to the wing of the plane.

Sunday 5th : Páez, Harley and Vizintín go on an expedition that lasts two days. They were testing their physical and psychological strength to decide who would be the one to join Parrado and Canessa in the final expedition. They find the rear door of the plane, two aluminium pots and a flask with rests of coffee. The way back to the plane is too hard. They arrive at the plane after dusk. As both Harley and Páez found the expedition sort of impossible, Vizintín is chosen to join Canessa and Parrado.

Wednesday 15th : Arturo Nogueira dies, the wound on his leg was extremely swollen. The members of the expedition make an unsuccessful attempt to go west and return within three hours due to weather conditions.

Friday 17th : Parrado, Canessa and Vizintín head west to reach Chile. On their way they find the tail of the plane and many suitcases with clothes, food and cigarettes. Inside the tail they find the batteries. They spend the night in the tail much more comfortable than in the fuselage.

Saturday 18th : The three members of the expedition keep walking northwest and they decide to spend the night in the mountain. Meanwhile, Rafael Echevarren dies on the plane.

Sunday 19th : They go back to the tail and decide not to carry the batteries with them as they are too heavy, they would take the radio to the tail. They return to the wreck carrying whatever they have found in the luggage for their mates.

Thursday 23rd : Bobby François receives a packet of cigarettes as a birthday present. Canessa and Parrado separate the radio from the instrument panel.

Friday 24th : Parrado, Canessa, Vizintín and Harley go to the tail carrying the radio with them. Harley should try to make it work. They arrive an hour and a half later and they find more suitcases that were uncovered as snow began to melt.

Saturday 25th : They try to connect the radio and batteries unsuccessfully.

Sunday 26th : Parrado and Vizintín return to the plane, as they had no food left while Harley and Canessa struggle to fix the radio.

Tuesday 28th : Parrado and Vizintín return to the tail with supplies. They get to know that they would start the search again, with a C47 Uruguayan Military Force aircraft.

Wednesday 29th : Parrado, Canessa, Vizintín and Harley return to the fuselage. They were not able to make it work.



DECEMBER 1972

Saturday 9th : Parrado’s birthday. He is given a cigar, which was found in the tail.

Monday 11th : They make an enormous cross with the suitcases to be seen from the planes. Pancho Delgado’s close friend, Numa Turcatti, dies.

Tuesday 12th : Canessa, Parrado and Vizintín leave the fuselage, heading west to meet the Chilean valleys. That night they sleep near a rock in the sleeping bag, which had been made for this final expedition.

Wednesday 13th : Canessa sees a line along the valley, he thinks it is a road. He says nothing about it and they keep on climbing. In the afternoon they reach a place similar to the one where they had spent the previous night. They decided to spend the night there. Canessa tells the others about the road and there’s an argument. He wanted to return to that place he had seen. Parrado thought it was nonsense. They fall asleep without having reached a conclusion. Meanwhile, on the plane they were running out of supplies so Zerbino and Fito Strauch fetch the dead bodies. They find one and leave it quite far from the plane, as they were tired.


Thursday 14th : Parrado and Vizintín continue climbing up to reach the top of the mountain while Canessa stays where they had slept staring at the road. When Parrado manages to reach the top, to his surprise, he sees a never-ending range of mountains. They decide that Vizintín should return to the plane and leave his ration of food. Canessa and Parrado ‘s food ration would last longer; therefore they would be able to walk to Chile and reach civilization. They spend the night in the same place as the previous night. Down in the plane, Páez and Algorta go up the valley to fetch more bodies. They find one and bury it in the snow to prevent it from going rot.

Friday 15th : Those thirteen that remain in the plane see something sliding down the mountain. At first they thought it was a rock, but then they realized it was Vizintín who was using one of the plane seats as a sledge. When he reaches the plane he tells everyone he had left his food to Canessa and Parrado and that they would keep on heading for Chile.
Fito, Zerbino and Algorta fetch the body they had found the previous day. The ones in the fuselage hear on the radio that a Uruguayan plane had seen the cross.

Saturday 16th : Canessa and Parrado keep going uphill to the top, where Parrado had already been, and try to find the best place to go down. In the evening, after having walked quite a long way, they go to sleep.

Sunday 17th : They hear the news on the radio. The cross, which had been found, belonged to a group of Argentinean meteorologists.
Canessa and Parrado reach the bottom of the mountain at noon and keep walking along the valley. When they stop for a short rest they see a stream surrounded by moss and reed. This is the first sample of vegetation they have seen since the accident. Although he was exhausted, Canessa looks for weed to eat.

Monday 18th : They continue walking along the valley. Becoming impatient to reach the end of the path, Parrado walks faster leaving Canessa far behind him .At last the snowy valley comes to an end and to their amazement they have an extraordinary view, there is no snow but flowers and bushes and a river bed going west. They see some animals and rest for a while. Then they continue along the right side of the river. Canessa realises he has lost his sunglasses and needs to go back for them; otherwise his sight would be harmed. To keep their way they have to cross the fast flowing river and after that they are ready for the best night since they have left the plane.

Tuesday 19th : Early in the morning Canessa sees a herd of cows, which motivates him to follow. They find the first sign of civilization, an empty soup can. Later they find a horseshoe and some cut down trees, all of which assures the closeness of civilization. When they go to sleep they are sure they will definitely be rescued.

Wednesday 20th : When they wake up they do not see the cows. They get rid of things they will no longer need, such as the sleeping bag. They keep walking along the valley but cannot find any signs of civilization, which is somehow alarming. Canessa feels sick and Parrado carries both backpacks. At last they find a man made yard. They spend the night near some trees. Before falling asleep Parrado finds out that the river they have been following comes together with another, which makes it impossible to go further on. They cannot cross it. When he goes to collect some wood, Canessa sees a man riding a horse on the opposite river bank and yells at Parrado to go and meet him, as he was unable to walk. Parrado runs to the river seeking the horseman but doesn’t find him so he returns to Canessa who no longer sees him either. Later on, they hear someone shouting and to their surprise they see three horsemen on the far bank of the river. Both of them shout and begged for help .One of the horsemen gets closer to the river and says something. All they understand is “tomorrow”. They go to sleep very happy after what has happened.

Thursday 21st : Back on the plane, Carlos Páez and Daniel Fernandez have a feeling that the expedition has reached Chile and found help. In the morning Canessa and Parrado see the three horsemen again. Parrado goes close to the river and shouts at them. One of them throws them a stone wrapped in a paper. In it they read that he has sent someone to that bank of the river to see what they need.

"I come from a plane that crashed into the mountains. I'm Uruguayan. We've been walking for 10 days. My friend is badly injured up in the mountain. There are 14 guys on the plane. We need to leave this place and we do not know how to. We have no food. We’re weak. When are you going to rescue us? Please we can hardly walk. Where are we?"

When he finishes, he throws the note to the other side of the river. The man who reds it shows understanding. Before leaving, he throws a piece of bread and Parrado catches it. Some hours later, a horseman arrives at the place where Canessa and Parrado are. They tell him what has happened, he gives them some bread and cheese and takes them to the cabin, where they eat non-stop. There, they are told that the one who has met them was on his way to the police station with their letter. In the afternoon, some policemen arrive with Sergio Catalán, the man who first saw them. Three helicopters are brought from Santiago, to rescue the rest of the survivors.

The ones on the plane hear the news on the radio; O horseman has bumped into two survivors of the Uruguayan plane that crashed 13th October.

Friday 22nd : When they wake up in the cabin, it's foggy which is disappointing as the rescue might not take place. After breakfast a crowd of journalists from all over the world is waiting for them. They kindly answer all their questions, except those connected to the way they fed. The helicopters arrive at Los Maitenes, where they are. Parrado decides to join them to guide them to the wreck. The trip to the Fairchild is really hard. Making a great effort they manage to reach the plane. There they met the 14 survivors, who waved their arms frantically to the helicopters, and thanking for being rescued. Six of them are rescued that very day. The others remain in the plane with part of the rescue team, as it is too dangerous to fly in those weather conditions.
Everything is filled with joy when six of the survivors reach Los Maitenes. They hug each other and celebrate the rescue rolling on the grass. Some hours later they are taken to “San Juan de Dios” hospital, in San Fernando.

Saturday 23rd : At ten o’clock in the morning, the helicopters rescue the eight guys who are eagerly waiting to be rescued. They go to Los Maitenes where they celebrate as the previous day. They go to Colchagua military base and finally land at “Posta Central” in Santiago.
Inciarte and Mangino who are in San Fernando are taken to Posta Central, too. The rest go straight to the Sheraton Hotel. This is not possible for Harley and Methol who are too weak. At seven o’clock, all survivors except Inciarte Mangino, Harley and Methol meet at the Sheraton Hotel in San Cristobal.

Sunday 24th : Those four remaining join the rest at the Sheraton. This very day François and Daniel Fernandez return to Montevideo. In the evening, the other survivors celebrate Christmas.

Tuesday 26th : Parrado moves to a house in Viña del Mar and Algorta to one in the outskirts of Santiago. “El Mercurio” newspaper publishes on its first page a photograph claiming cannibalism. This is why survivors are forced to a press conference when arriving in Montevideo.

Wednesday 28th : The survivors return to Montevideo, and a press conference is held. In it everything that happened in those 70 days is clearly explained. Harley stays in Chile cause he is still very weak, and returns to Montevideo some days later.