Yes, both Society of the Snow and Alive are based on the same true story. Released in 1993, Alive was an adaptation of Piers Paul Read's book Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors and was directed by Frank Marshall.
Alive is a 1993 American biographical survival drama film based on Piers Paul Read's 1974 book Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, which details a Uruguayan rugby team's crash aboard Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 into the Andes mountains on October 13, 1972.
Where are the 1972 Andes plane crash survivors now? Of the 16 survivors, 14 are still alive. José Luis “Coche” Inciarte died in 2023 of cancer, per the AFP, as did Javier Methol in 2015.
"Alive" is the kind of movie that you wouldn't believe if you didn't know in advance that it was based on true events. If you didn't know better, you would say it was all made up by some scenarist with too much of inspiration, looking for a spectacular and sometimes shocking script.
What happened to the rugby team that crashed in the Andes?
Uruguayan Air Force flight 571, flight of an airplane charted by a Uruguayan amateur rugby team that crashed in the Andes Mountains in Argentina on October 13, 1972, the wreckage of which was not located for more than two months. Of the 45 people aboard the plane, only 16 survived the ordeal.
Courage and cannibalism: inside the Andes plane disaster | 7NEWS Spotlight
Were the survivors of the Andes plane crash cannibalism?
During the 72 days following the crash, the survivors suffered from extreme hardships, including sub-zero temperatures, exposure, starvation, and an avalanche, which led to the deaths of 13 more passengers. The remaining passengers resorted to cannibalism to survive.
The place where the plane crashed was not strategically visible, so it would have been pointless to try to make a fire. Furthermore, they didn't have enough flammable objects to cause such a big fire, which is why the lighter was used for cigarettes but never a signal fire.
Of the 16 survivors, 14 are still alive. José Luis “Coche” Inciarte died in 2023 of cancer, per the AFP, as did Javier Methol in 2015. Sergio Catalan, the herdsman who encountered Fernando Parrado and Roberto Canessa after their 10-day trek through the Andes from the crash site, died in 2020 at the age of 91.
“What remains of the plane is still in a place where, in general, there is snow. It is at least 10 metres below where it was during the 72 days that the survivors were sheltered,” says Moraga.
Death. Turcatti had been surviving in the mountains for 61 days. Due to a septic condition, he died in his sleep weighing just 25kg (55lbs). He was the last fatal victim of the tragedy of flight 571 in the Andes.
Sadly, Methol was the first of the plane crash survivors to pass away as he died of cancer in 2015. After losing his wife Liliana during the events following the plane crash, he remarried Ana María with whom he had four more children. He worked in the tobacco industry until his death at the age of 79.
Were the survivors of alive the story of the Andes cannibalism?
Of the 45 people on the flight, only 16 survived 72 days of sub-zero temperatures. The search went on for eight days, although bad weather prevented searching for two days. The survivors found little food in the crashed fuselage, and it became necessary for the survivors to eat the frozen bodies of their dead friends.
All the sources claim they hiked 60 km in ten days until they encountered Sergio Catalan at the confluence of Rio del Azufre and Rio del Portillo rivers.
'Society of the Snow' is something new. LOS ANGELES (AP) — When Gustavo Zerbino watched “La Sociedad de la Nieve,” the 1972 plane crash survivor felt as if he was being submerged “into boiling water,” reliving the roughly 70 days he and his teammates were stranded in the snow-covered Andes mountains.
The Real-Life Plane Crash Was Concluded To Be Caused By Pilot Error. On October 13, 1972, chartered Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed in the Andes mountains on its way from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Santiago, Chile.
In 1972, a plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team crashed into the Andes mountains, forcing the survivors to endure freezing temperatures, avalanches, starvation and, eventually, eat the dead among them.
On December 20, the pair spotted another human: Sergio Catalán Martínez, a Chilean herdsman. After the man brought help the next day, Parrado and Canessa led authorities to the 14 other survivors. After 72 days lost in the Andes, they were all finally safe.
As he settled into his seat, Parrado had no inkling that not only would he soon spend a harrowing 72 days in frigid temperatures at the top of a mountain, but he would soon be dining on the flesh of those around him.
Numa Turcatti turned 25 on Oct. 30 while trapped under a blanket of snow from an avalanche. He sustained injuries on his leg from it, which ultimately led to his death Dec. 11.
Roberto Jorge Canessa Urta (born 17 January 1953) is a Uruguayan pediatric cardiologist, motivational speaker and former rugby player. He is one of the 16 survivors of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which crashed in the Andes mountains on 13 October 1972.
After the accident, Parrado was in a coma for four and a half days, but he recovered, only to find himself alone in the middle of the Andean mountains. He survived for 72 days where no one is expected to -- at an altitude of more than 3 000 metres, without proper equipment, water, and food, at the age of 22.
Is the movie Alive based on the 1972 Andes plane crash?
Alive is a great movie experience. It is based on a true event in 1972 and on the narrative book by Piers Paul Read. It's about a Uraguayan college rugby team whose chartered airplane crashed deep in the icy Andes Mountains while on its way to a game in Santiago, Chile.
A group of survivors lived through the plane crash, only to face the frigid cold and snow of the mountains, avalanches and, most famously, a lack of food. As they fought for their lives for more than two months, they fed themselves by cannibalizing the bodies of those who had already died.
After Navarro's death, four years later, he remarried Ana María Amorrortu from Argentina, with whom he had four more children: Guillermo Javier, Rafael Javier, Ignacio Javier and Ximena María. He was a cousin of Francisco Abal, who died during the accident. He was a Catholic.
Did the Andes plane crash survivors have no regrets over resorting to cannibalism?
Survivors of a plane crash that took place 50 years ago said they "have no regrets" resorting to cannibalism to prevent death long enough to be rescued, according to a report in Independent. (Link in bio)
