He survived the plane crash: 72 days I ate my dead friends to survive

Jose Luis Couché Inciarte endured 72 days in the Andes after a terrible plane crash. 27 people who escaped death tried to survive in an isolated country after the search-saving operation was suspended.

The survivor himself relates the moments before the book accident “Remember from Andes”:

We were going to Santiago, Chile, when there was severe turbulence, and I felt the plane coming down the mountain fast.

I heard a loud noise as I was standing between my legs and my eyes closed, convinced that I would die at the age of 24. I felt the cold wind and the snow as the plane slipped over Mount”.

Jose shows that he had only one slight knee injury, while those on the back of the plane were not so lucky.

But spending the night in the snow was not easy.

We got together and tried not to sleep. Physical contact kept us alive. In the morning, we set up a wall of suitcases to protect us from the cold.

We started rationing food pending aid, but, after 10 days, we heard on the radio the terrible news that the search-saving operation was suspended”, recalls Jose.

That was when survivors began to think unthinkable - eating the frozen meat of dead friends.

We had finished eating, and we began discussing over and over what we would do to eat. We survived the air accident, but we were heading toward certain death in the mountains. Some of us said that if they died, they'd be happy if they consumed their bodies.

So we decided to eat human flesh, but it is not that easy. The mind must force the body to do this. I couldn't open my mouth and could barely get it down. I ate as much as I could because I was disgusted with myself. But in the end, survival instinct” triumphed, says Jose Luis Coche Inciarte. <

The survivor says he lost 45kg over 72 days in the Andes.

Two friends decided to cross the mountain on foot and seek help in Chile. Ten days later, it was a miracle. On December 22nd, we heard helicopters and their noise is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard in my life.

On that mountain I have seen the best of the human soul, how we fought for each other under no favourable circumstances. There I learned that giving is the key to happiness. Although we had nothing in the middle of the snow, we gave everything to each other and I'm proud of this”.

Of the 27 survivors, only 16 were saved at the end, for one avalanche claimed the lives of 11 others.