Movie Snow Society Juan Antonia Bayona has quickly become one of Netflix’s biggest hits. Not only because of the outstanding cinematography and the brilliant narration of the tragic event. And also because he managed to delve into one of the greatest Latin American tragedies of the 20th century from a sensitive and respectful point of view. This is despite the fact that the event is so frightening that it resembles the plot of a horror film. Especially when its harshest and harshest aspects are explored.
The film tells the true story of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571. He crashed in the Andes mountain range on Friday, October 13, 1972. The Uruguayan rugby team and their families were on board. A group of them managed to survive the impact and remained there for two months, despite the extreme temperatures in the area. It’s between serious injury and the risk of dying from starvation or, in the worst case, from frostbite. Ultimately, with no other option at their disposal, those who were able to keep their lives ended up resorting to cannibalism to survive.
A similar story caused furor and surprise in its time and still does. So, the film by Juan Antonio Bayona, Snow Society, surprised and touched the audience. First in the movies, and now with its appearance on Netflix. However, many questions arise as to how much of what is shown on the screen corresponds to reality. Below we leave you with everything you need to know about the real story and its most important moments.
A tragic flight that went down in history
There were 45 passengers on board Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, in addition to the pilot and crew. Most of the travelers were members of the Christian Rugby Club team. The trip continued from Montevideo (Uruguay) to Santiago de Chile to attend the match. Others on board included friends of the participants and a woman attending her daughter’s wedding.
A number of factors led to the incident described in this article. Snow Society. The first and most important thing is the size and model of the aircraft. The Fairchild FH-227D did not have enough engine power to withstand the mountain range’s severe snowstorms. To this must be added the unfavorable conditions that led to failures and, ultimately, to the complete collapse of the machine. A subsequent investigation revealed that, in addition, the weight of the travelers, luggage and altitude made it difficult for the plane to remain aloft. The situation became worse when they had to cross very high mountains in extreme atmospheric conditions.
Finally, another big problem was the route. Due to strong winds and gusts of snow, the pilot had to make uncertain decisions along the route. This included landing in Mendoza, Argentina to avoid bad weather. But since the rented ship could not stay in Argentina for more than a day, it returned to the air.
Something that forced the pilot to take a new route to get to Santiago. This included flying over the Andes mountain range and flying over the less dangerous Planchon Pass. But in the midst of a snowstorm, the pilot became confused about where he was, so he notified air traffic controllers that he was in Curico, Chile. Having received permission to descend, he discovered that he was in the middle of the Andes. As a result, he crashed straight into a mountain range.
The long season of horror begins
After hitting the mountain, the plane broke into two parts, the tail and wings were torn off, and a fragment of the fuselage broke off. As a result of the first strike, twelve people were killed and the rest were seriously injured. However, most of them survived that night in the open air and were able to avoid the death of many other passengers with serious fractures and bruises. This was despite freezing temperatures and a hostile climate that became progressively worse over time.
The initial impact killed Lieutenant Ramon Martinez (navigator), Sergeant Ovidio Ramirez (flight attendant), Gaston Costemal (law student), Jorge Uni (veterinary student) and Guido Magri (agronomy student). In the middle of the fuselage’s collapse, Daniel Shaw (a livestock farmer) and Carlos Valeta (a student) fell into the void. The latter did not die in the fall, but he was covered with deep snow and suffocated; His body will be found by the remaining passengers on December 14.
The remaining victims were Francisco Nicola (rugby team doctor) and his wife Esther Horta; Eugenia Dolgay de Parrado (mother of Fernando Parrado) and Fernando Vazquez (medical student). Thirty-three passengers were saved, although they suffered serious injuries and in the case of Nando Parrado, a serious concussion.
All attempts to survive
Trying to keep the snow from crushing them, the survivors turned the fuselage into shelter. From there, they used suitcases, clothing, seats and scrap metal to build the wall. As seen in “The Snow Society”, during the first week they ate all the snacks on board, including a chocolate bar, cookies and bread. But by the beginning of the second they were all finished. The surrounding area was covered a few centimeters of snow and they were isolated from any city, without the possibility of moving.
By then, a group of survivors had begun eating the leather of suitcases, strips of fabric, and even their own hair. But it was clear that these were desperate and ineffective measures. Therefore, after much discussion and resistance from the majority, they decided to wait until it became obvious that no one would save them. By then, rescue teams had given up the search.
Something they heard on a dubious radio broadcast. As team member Nando Parrado later told an ABC News documentary, everyone knew death was a possibility. Therefore, despite the opposition of some, the decision was made to eat the flesh of the deceased, preserved in ice, in order to preserve life.
More tragedies and, finally, salvation in the “Snow Society”.
On October 29, an avalanche struck the fuselage, killing eight people during the incident. The list includes Daniel Maspons, Juan Menendez, Liliana Metol, Gustavo Nikolic, Marcelo Perez del Castillo, Enrique Platero, Carlos Roque and Diego Storm. Almost dying from suffocation, the remaining survivors managed to escape and amid general horror, two decisions were made. First, to survive, again resort to human flesh. Other, ask for help.
Nando Parrado, as well as his teammates Roberto Canessa and Antonio Visintin, decided to prepare for the walk. As a result, only the first two went along the route. By that time the thaw had already begun. This allowed them to reach the river bank and finally stumble upon farmer Sergio Catalan on the opposite side. After some confusion and the stranger going in search of his two children, he was contacted via a note.
According to the ABC documentary, the note, written by Nando Parrado, explained the dangerous situation in a few lines. “I come from a plane that crashed in the mountain. I’m Uruguayan. We walked for 10 days. I have 14 friends injured at the scene. We need help. We don’t have food. Please find us.” 72 days have passed since the accident.. Snow Societyand is now available on Netflix.
Source: Hiper Textual
