Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read l Summary & Study Guide (6 page)

Rafael Ponce de
Leon

Rafael Ponce de Leon was an Old
Christians rugby team member, but he did not attend the trip to Chile due to
his wife's advanced pregnancy. Therefore, he was safe at home when the
Fairchild crashed. He was deeply saddened for his teammates and their families.
Ponce de Leon was also a radio ham, a hobby that he enjoyed in the basement of
his home. The use of radio transmissions was as efficient as telephoning and
cost much less. In this way Ponce de Leon was able to be of help to his
friends. Their families used his home as their command center during the search
and gathered there in the evenings to listen for news. Ponce de Leon was able
to spread word quickly by contacting other radio hams in far off areas. For
example, from his home in Montevideo, Uruguay Rafael contacted
Paez
Vilaro
in Santiago, Chile
with new information.

Passengers

The Fairchild originally carried
forty-five passengers and crew. The passengers were united through their
association with the Old Christians rugby team. Fifteen passengers were on the
team, and it was these men that chartered the plane. To defray the cost of
tickets, they invited their friends and family to come along as well.
Twenty-five accepted their invitations. The last five people on board were the
Fairchild's crew. Of these passengers, some died on impact, others died during
the wait for a rescue, and sixteen ultimately survived.

Parents

The parents of the Old Christians
team members were active in the search for their children following the
Fairchild's crash. They were not satisfied with the effort put forth by the
government to find the plane, so they launched their own complimentary search.
Some parents believed that their children survived. Others believed that no one
had survived but supported the search to find answers and gain closure.
Paez
Vilaro
was the parent most
involved in the search. He was so often present that the local people began to
refer to him as the foolish man looking for his lost son.
 
He and his ex-wife,
Madelon
(
Vilaro
) Rodriguez, always had faith that their son,
Carlitos
, would survive.
Paez
was
aided in his search by other parents. These included
Nicolich
,
Luis
Surraco
, Jorge
Zerbino
,
and the
Strauch
relatives.

Water Diviner

The old water diviner in
Montevideo was consulted by the parents of the rugby team players. The water
diviner was amazingly accurate. He indicated a spot on a map of the cordillera.
Unfortunately, his advice was not followed because it seemed contrary to the
other information gathered. Listening to the water diviner would have expedited
the rescue of the survivors.

Gerard
Croiset

Gerard
Croiset
was contacted by
Madelon
(
Vilaro
)
Rodriguez.
Croiset
lived in Utrecht and was said to
have powers of clairvoyance. He had successfully helped to solve hundreds of
missing person cases, and
Madelon
was looking for
help to find the lost Fairchild plane.
Croiset's
vision of the plane was accurate, but he
lead
the
search team to the wrong position. The parents and search team spent a great
deal of time and resources following up on
Croiset's
visions.
 

Armando
Serda
and Enrique Gonzalez

Armando
Serda
and Enrique Gonzalez were the peasants who first made contact with
Canessa
and
Parrado
when they
emerged out of the mountains. After two months of being stranded without
resources, the men must have appeared bedraggled, but the shy peasants welcomed
them. The peasants watched over cattle for their landlord and tended to the
land. They had minimal food and lodging but shared everything they had with the
survivors and sent for additional help from the nearest post.

SAR

The
Servicio
Aereo
de
Rescate
(SAR) was
the Chilean governmental agency in charge of rescue operations. The search for
the Fairchild was led by the SAR interim commanders Garcia and Massa. The SAR
search was aided by the
Carabiners
(Chilean trained
military police) and
Andinists
(hiking specialists),
as well as occasional forays by the Uruguayan government.

Objects/Places

Fairchild

Airplane owned by the Uruguayan
Air Force and chartered by the rugby team for its trip to the rugby tournament.

Montevideo,
Uruguay

Home to the
majority of the travelers on the Fairchild, the plane which also departed from
this city.

Santiago, Chile

Destination for
the rugby team traveling on the Fairchild.

Stella Maris
College

A school for
boys between the ages of nine and sixteen.
It was founded in opposition to the local public
schools and the private school taught by Jesuits. The Christian Brothers who
taught at the school introduced the boys to the game of rugby. The boys took a
liking to the
game ,and
, after graduation, they created
a competitive alumni team.

Fuselage

The fuselage was the survivors'
only protection. It was the remnants of the plane (its wings and tail fell
elsewhere) in which the survivors slept.

Andes
mountains

The mountain
range in which the Fairchild was lost.

Curico

The pilot's last reported
position was flying over the city of
Curico
. This was
actually an incorrect assessment, which lead
to great
confusion and lost time during the rescue search.

Tinguiririca
Volcano

This volcano was the closest
physical landmark to the crash site. The volcano was alluded to by the water
diviner, but his information was dismissed because it wasn't in agreement with
the pilot's reported path.

Avalanche

On the seventeenth day of their
ordeal an avalanche struck. The avalanche claimed the lives of eight of those
who had originally survived the crash.

Azufre
River

After trekking through the
mountains
Canessa
and
Parrado
came to a large and seemingly
uncrossable
river. This
river watered a healthy and fertile valley on the outskirts of the mountains.
This river is where they finally encountered help.

Themes

Cannibalism

Cannibalism was a major theme in
this book. The only way for the survivors to sustain themselves was through
cannibalism. In the beginning, many of the survivals were opposed to the
practice. Some overcame their revulsion when they grew weak from hunger. It is
especially significant to note that the people who committed cannibalism did so
with complete reverence for the
departed.This
was not
an easy transaction; instead it involved a mixture of contemplation and
desperation. Indeed, the survivors would have perished without this food
source. The survivors contemplated their choices, realized that they had none
and asked for God's permission. Most believed He would approve and likened
their action to the Catholic Church's practice of communion. They did what they
had to do to survive and came to terms with that decision. Once rescued,
however, the survivors were surprised to find that what they did was not
accepted by the general public. Citizens found it to be disagreeable and were
quick to condemn those who participated. It was disappointing to the survivors
that their food source made as large a headline in the media as the plane crash
and their subsequent rescue. Certainly the cannibalism was more sensational
than the survival, however newsworthy the crash and rescue were. Even more
upsetting was that the families of the survivors were also upset by the rumors
of cannibalism. The human heart is sometimes in conflict with the mind. The
families of survivors rationally knew that the only way their family members
returned was to survive through cannibalism, yet they couldn't accept it.
  

Rescue

The Fairchild crashed at just
past three o'clock in the afternoon. Once the shock passed, the survivors began
to talk among themselves about a rescue effort. Evening came fast and with it,
the cold and darkness. It was apparent that a rescue could not occur in the darkness,
so they huddled together to survive the first night. In the early days
following the crash, the survivors were confident that they would be rescued.
They did their best to stabilize the injured survivors and search the plane for
supplies. Because they anticipated a fast rescue, they were tempted to eat all
of the food supplies, and, in fact, some were in favor of doing so. Wisely,
others thought rationing was prudent and this method was undertaken.
 
Unfortunately, in addition to the shortage of
food, the little food that they found was of poor nutritional value. The
survivors heard a plane passing over the cloud cover on the second day, which
raised their hopes of rescue. The third day the survivors awoke to clear skies
and thought they would be rescued for sure. They had no way of knowing
that,
based on the last inaccurate radio transmissions from
the pilot and co-pilot, the rescue attempt was focusing on the wrong area. More
planes could be heard, but there was disagreement as to their proximity. The desolate,
snow-covered landscape into which they plunged was deceiving. Every peak looked
identical, and the distances looked short but were actually quite far. In an
effort to make themselves (and their white plane) contrast from the snow, they
used ladies' cosmetics to draw on the roof of the plane and also pulled
contents out of the plane. The survivors wanted to believe in rescue, so they
clung to the hope, even as the
sound of planes were
decreasing in frequency. Some imagined it would be by plane, others by
helicopter, some tomorrow and some the day after. As the days passed and the
food supplies dwindled the survivors were forced to take a proactive approach.
On the fourth day,
Carlitos
Paez
announced that he would climb to safety. He had not thought it out well, and
was unprepared to take action, but it was the first time that they discussed
the idea of saving themselves instead of waiting to be saved. Over time, there
would be small scale expeditions to forage for food, scavenge debris from the
crash and test the conditions. In the end,
Carlitos
Paez's
idea was correct--those that were able would have to
walk out of the cordillera on their own feet.

Religion

This book has many references to
religion. Although officially a
free state
, the
dominant religion in Uruguay is Roman Catholicism. Long before the rugby team
was organized, local parents were searching for better religious education.
This is how the Stella Maris College was founded. The boys' Christian education
was thorough and followed them on their journey. Their rugby team was named the
"Old Christians." When the members of the Old Christian rugby team
realized the gravity of the situation, many prayed. They prayed during their
crash and every day thereafter. For some, prayer was continual and personal.
For others, it was merely
routine
. No matter how they
each perceived prayer prior to the crash, they all prayed the rosary together
every night during their time in the mountains. When it became time to consume
the meat available from the bodies of their teammates, they discussed their
Catholic beliefs and the laws of the church. The Catholic
church
views suicide as a sin. Because of this, the survivors could not bring
themselves to assist the pilot in committing suicide, even though he requested
it. For this same reason the majority of the survivors could not allow
themselves to languish when food, no matter how objectionable, was available.
Even those who chose not to participate agreed with the conclusion that God
would want them to survive. The ultimate example of this was Jesus' death for
mankind and his reference at the last supper of giving his body and blood for
his friends. It is easy to see how this statement would relate to the survivors
and the choices with which they were faced. Once they returned to Montevideo,
the survivors consulted a priest and the archbishop, who agreed that their
actions were acceptable in the eyes of the church. This confirmation assuaged
their fears and lingering guilt. During their integration back into society,
the survivors unanimously spoke about a deeper faith and developing
a closeness
to God during their ordeal.