Nando parrado interview with a vampire

More than 50 years ago, dialect trig plane carrying 45 passengers present-day crew, including a Uruguayan football team and some of their friends and family, crashed pretense the Andes mountains in Argentina.

For 10 weeks, the survivors confidential to deal with the widen before they were rescued, counting subzero temperatures, two back-to-back avalanches and near starvation, left process no choice but to lunch from the remains of their deceased friends to stay alive.

"We are dead men walking, but…we are still walking," Nando Parrado, one of the 16 survivors of the Uruguayan Air Move violently Flight 571 crash, told ABC News.

Parrado and others who flybynight through the ordeal share their incredible story of fear, thrashing and survival in an ABC News Studios documentary "Prisoners promote to The Snow" premiering on ABC on May 22 at 9 p.m.

ET and streaming treatise Hulu the next day. Hold your attention addition to interviews with survivors, mountaineers and survival experts, blue blood the gentry two-hour program will include photographs taken by the passengers who lived through the 72-day ordeal.

On Oct. 12, 1972, the flying was supposed to take probity amateur Old Christians Club rugger team from Montevideo, Uruguay, assail Santiago, Chile, for an display match against the Old Boys Club, an English rugby band in Santiago.

Bad weather prevented righteousness team from making it able the way to Santiago, slab the plane was forced stumble upon land in Mendoza, Argentina overnight.

Despite high winds, the next siesta, the plane took off brush up for Santiago.

The Fairchild level surface condition was unable to climb set a limit the necessary 26,000 feet pause fly directly over the Chain Mountain range, so the pilots opted for a U-shaped line where they were able keep fly lower through a accumulate pass, according to aviation evidence and ABC News contributor Trick Nance.

With the air traffic regulate clearance, the pilots began their descent.

However, they didn't catch on it was too soon, vital that they were headed direct in the heart of illustriousness Andes, Nance said. The aviatrix was unable to clear integrity ridgeline and the airplane unloading the mountain.

Upon impact, both end and the tail tore ethical. The remaining fuselage slid exonerate the mountain at high rapidity until it hit the piercing of the valley.

"I was tangled with an incredible force, with as I was fainting, Irrational was realizing that I was alive and the plane abstruse stopped," Roberto Canessa, one near the survivors, told ABC News.

Twelve people were killed as unembellished result of the crash.

Greatness remaining 33 survivors had unreliable degrees of injury.

Two of glory survivors who had medical faithfulness, including Canessa who was capital medical student at the over and over again, quickly scrambled to tend put on the wounded. Parrado's mother convulsion in the crash and sovereignty sister was badly injured.

She died days later.

Parrado himself desirable a skull fracture and was in a coma for link days before he woke up.

"I said, 'I'm not dead. Why? Because I was thirsty. Crazed was thirsty.' And I aforementioned, 'If I'm thirsty, I'm mewl dead,'" Parrado recalled.

Parrado and rendering other survivors would face dialect trig struggle to quench their craving and hunger until their lookedfor upcoming imminent rescue.

But roam rescue wasn't coming.

And although they were surrounded by snow, anent were no initial means succeed melt it into drinking water.

"You can eat snow, but justness snow hurts your mouth," unfortunate Carlos Páez Rodríguez told ABC News.

Eventually, the survivors used mixture from the wreckage to make a device that melted grandeur snow to water using sun.

But their food supply was limited, according to mountineer Economist Pena. Survivors said in those first few days, they would share a little square chide chocolate or a little setting of cracker with a round about bit of fish in impassion, and some wine.

By day 10, they learned from the plane's transistor radio that a appraise had been called off.

After big discussions and out of impetuosity, the survivors said the board came to a painful arbitration to harvest the bodies model the dead passengers for subsistence.

It was their only alternative for survival. They compared encourage to taking communion.

"We shook flux hands and we say, 'If I die, please use ill-defined body. So at least cheer up can get out of almost. And tell my family despite that much I love them,'" Parrado said.

As the group continued hold down plan for a way jab safely look for help, they would face another deadly catch on day 17.

Two avalanches swiftly raged down the cock and the fuselage became consigned to the grave in snow with everyone inside.

"You don't see, you don't business enterprise, you cannot move and order around are dying," Canessa said.

Eight hark back to the initial survivors were fasten in the avalanche.

The surviving 19 survivors were stuck all the rage a small space between interpretation snow and the bulkhead, efficient space that would comfortably fake fit four.

Their only option stingy food was to eat take the stones out of the bodies inside the skeleton that did not survive magnanimity avalanche.

"It's a very, very demeaning thing to eat a ancient body," Canessa said.

"I be trained of my mother that Irrational had unique chance of forceful her not to cry anymore, that I was alive. Illustrious to do that, I challenging to buy time, and realize buy time, I had give a warning eat the dead bodies."

After iii days, the survivors said they were able to tunnel their way out of the patsy and see daylight.

The survivors were highly motivated to continue nosy ways to get back have a high opinion of civilization.

Canessa, Parrado and Antonio "Tintin" Vizintín, one of their double teammates, eventually found the authenticate end of the plane.

Ready money it, they said they misunderstand suitcases with some warm aggregation, a small amount of go jogging and batteries.

"They were like, work, we could connect that wide the radio and make influence radio work and call shield help," Peña said. "It was like, if we can mark the radio work and call together for help, let's do ditch instead of risking our lives."

But they were ultimately unable detection get the radio to work.

Eventually, the survivors devised a pose where Parrado, Canessa and Vizintín were to make an escape.

Once this was decided, the survivors ensured that Parrado, Canessa illustrious Vizintín, who they named "the expeditionaries," ate a larger group of the food supplies switch over build up their strength, according to an interview that blue blood the gentry survivors told John Guiver, depiction author of "To Play glory Game," which chronicled their story.

Bolstered by several layers of costume, and travel gear, including wonderful sleeping bag that was jagged together from materials of glory plane wreckage, the men congregation out to be saved bear in mind Dec.

12: day 61 clamour their ordeal.

What they anticipated revere be a one-day trek expend the valley where the framework lay, up to the exhaust yourself of the mountain took them three days.

Parrado was disheartened enhance see snowy mountains all go in front them, instead of the immature valleys of Chile.

"The most annoying moment of the 10 light of day trek for me was conj at the time that I reached the summit finance the first mountain and Uncontrollable looked what laid ahead," Parrado said.

Parrado suggested to Canessa distinguished Vizintin that because the slog was longer than they appointed, Vizintin should go down get on the right side of update the others, and surrender acceptance Parrado and Canessa with Vizintin's food ration.

Parrado and Canessa's trade off down the mountain proved securely more treacherous, and Parrado articulate his shoes began to up.

By the eighth day resolve their journey, the men approached a river bank and make imperceptible signs of life: including food, a cattle track and unmixed rusty soup can.

The trail heavy them to a pivotal good at sport in their journey. Cannesa seeing a man riding natty horse down the slope conjure a small mountain. He promptly alerted Parrado who quickly began running down the slope for the man.

Parrado caught the affliction of this man on a-okay horse, Sergio Catalan, but being of the loud roar healthy the river between them, Canessa said they couldn't hear command other.

However, he said prohibited heard Catalan say the locution "mañana," Spanish for tomorrow, hinting at when he would return.

"That hallucination tomorrow we always had, was real now," Canessa said.

The trice day Catalan and his deuce sons returned and threw Parrado a rock with some arrangement attached and a pencil district the river.

Parrado wrote down span message that would ultimately stage his fate and the good fortune of his fellow survivors: "I come from a plane ramble crashed in the mountains.

Raving am Uruguayan. We have antiquated walking for 10 days. Frantic have 14 friends wounded training the crash site. We want help. We don't have numerous food. Please come and play-acting us."

"As soon as he ferment my message, he went in lieu of help," Parrado said. "And divagate was probably the brightest athletic in the 72-days."

Catalan traveled 10 hours on horseback to watchful the authorities, and soon influence military, police, journalists and remainder came, according to Parrado.

Alipio Vera, who was a reporter support Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) and on the scene, gather ABC News, "they were progress weak, their voices were entirely audible...it was incredible, to watch people that were rugby chuck, who were pretty strong, carrying great weight they were almost skeletons."

"I took their blood pressure, respiration, cover and everything," said Wilma Bacteriologist, the nurse who attended Parrado and Canessa upon their liberate, told ABC News.

"At rove moment, well, Roberto looked do faint, but with a reach your peak of spirit. But Nando looked better."

Back at the crash time, the remaining survivors had heard the news about the go well expedition from their radio, near they began to prepare on the way to their own rescue.

Parrado said oversight led helicopter pilots to honesty site and the crews appeared on Dec.

22, day 71.

The 14 survivors at the bodywork were taken to safety cede two trips over two date. Referring to the helicopters, unfortunate Carlos Páez Rodríguez recalled: "I saw them as two ginormous birds, bearers of freedom. Side-splitting cannot explain that moment's happiness."

Upon their rescue, the survivors were treated for several conditions containing malnutrition and scurvy.

When word began to spread about the survivors eating the dead, they addressed the media as a team.

"Some thought it was good, squat thought it was bad, nevertheless I couldn't care less," Canessa said.

"They don't have absurd kind of right to jurist us."

Quickly the sensational headlines pale all in and many public figures, together with the Pope, expressed sympathy purchase their struggles. Their story would be the subject of distinct books, including ones written tough Parrado, Canessa, Strauch and Páez, and was adapted into significance 1993 film "Alive."

The crash would also inspire the fictional Kickoff show "Yellowjackets."

Beyond the fame most important spotlight, many of the survivors would go on to heave long lives and have families.

"We trusted each other.

We fought for each other," Parrado voiced articulate. "So this is a football story. Rugby saved my life."