Best on the Box choice for January 11th…
The final episode in the three-part documentary about the Andes Plane Crash of 1972, airs tonight. The series, produced by ITN, charts the ultimate story of human survival against all the odds, as told by those who lived to tell the tale. When a Uruguayan rugby team’s plane crashed in the Andes Mountains in October 1972, they were stranded in one of the world’s most unforgiving environments with little hope of rescue. Of the 45 people who boarded the plane, only 16 made it out alive.
Told through the vivid and powerful testimony of survivors – Nando Parrado, Roy Harley, Coche Inciarte, Eduardo Strauch, Fito Strauch – this documentary series tells the definitive story of their heroism, during what became known as the “Miracle of the Andes.” Eduardo Stauch, says: “The [series] is a fantastic art work. I have seen it twice and got deeply moved each time.”
In tonight’s third edition Andes Plane Crash: Escape & Rescue for over a week, two of the survivors would walk through the mountains trying to find help. They had no specialist equipment and no mountain clothes. For those left behind at the wreckage it was a terrible wait. How could they possibly survive in the Andes and find rescue? Eventually, after battling the harsh conditions, the two men would reach the green valleys of Chile and find help from a local herdsman. Helicopters were sent to rescue the rest of the survivors.
Of the 45 people who boarded the plane, only 16 made it out alive. The world waited to hear their incredible story. But would the public accept and understand the difficult decisions they had made to survive?
Andes Plane Crash: Escape & Rescue , tonight (Thursday 11th January) 10pm, Channel 5