Free Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read l Summary & Study Guide by BookRags Page B

plane, Fairchild number 571,
took off at 8:05 a.m. on October 12. Its scheduled destination was Santiago,
Chile. The plane had accumulated only 792 hours since its purchase from the
USA. The plane was in good mechanical condition and Ferradas was familiar with it. The flying conditions were more of a concern. The Andes mountains were renowned for powerful and dangerous air
currents. Only three months before, a cargo plane had disappeared in the
mountains. With the plane traveling at 240 knots the journey was expected to
take about four hours, the last half hour of which would be over the Andes mountains . By leaving at roughly eight in the morning, the
pilot hoped to avoid the mid-day turbulence, which was known to occur. Even
without turbulence, the pilots still had to take into consideration the
limitations of the aircraft. The Fairchild was not equipped to climb higher
than 22,500 feet, although many of the peaks in the mountain range exceeded
that. Therefore, the pilot and his co-pilot were balancing the altitude,
turbulence and visibility on that day. After witnessing the conditions as he
approached the Andes, the pilot decided to land the plane in Mendoza, Argentina
and wait for better weather. The young men and their acquaintances disembarked
and enjoyed some local food and entertainment. After a night's rest in the
local inn, all the passengers boarded the plane again the following day at   2:18 in the
afternoon for the last leg of their trip. The flight was running smoothly and
the pilot radioed in that they had flown over a landmark, the town of Curico in Chile. That was the last radio transmission ever
heard from the Fairchild.   

 
    The steward announced bad weather
ahead but reassured the passengers that they would land soon. The plane lurched
and its wing came dangerously close to touching the mountains it flew between.
This unnerved the passengers and they began to pray. Moments later the plane's
right wing did make contact and was torn off, thrown and cut off the plane's
tail. The destabilized plane then lost its left wing and propeller. Without its
wings the fuselage fell and slid down the steep valley. In addition to losing
many passengers and the steward, the force of the crash pinned additional
passengers between the heavy, metal seats and walls of the plane. When the
remaining passenger portion of the plane stopped its descent the survivors were
in shock. Those that were both conscious and coherent searched amongst the
wreckage. They pulled the injured people from the   debris and helped them as much as they
could. In the distance they saw a lone team mate staggering through the snow
but were unable to reach him before he wandered away. Two of the passengers, Zerbino and Canessa , were medical
students. They were in their first and second years   of schooling, respectively, and had
rudimentary knowledge and skills. Three passengers, Eugenia Parrado and Mr. and Mrs. Nicolas, died instantly. Of the thirty-two survivors, many
people had serious injuries. Others had only superficial injuries yet were in a
complete state of shock.

 
    The plane had crashed at
approximately 3:30 in the afternoon. Night came fast- the sun was setting, the
temperature was decreasing and snow began falling. The passengers were not
dressed for cold weather and the rear of the fuselage was an open, jagged tear
which left them exposed to the elements. The pilot was confirmed dead on
impact. The co-pilot was alive but badly injured (the instrumentation panel was
impaling his chest) and trapped in his seat. He mumbled repeatedly about their
passing Curico and asked for help locating his
revolver. The passengers responded only by giving him water to drink and he
eventually died the next day. Meanwhile the survivors,
knowing that a rescue could not happen in the darkness of night, huddled
together in the broken fuselage for their first night. The twenty foot
long area was cramped with mangled seats and this left little room for