logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2021
46m 36s

Plane Crash in the Andes | The Crash | 1

Wondery
About this episode

In October 1972, an Uruguayan rugby team traveling to their next match in Santiago, Chile, crashes into the Andes Mountains after their plane strikes a glacier. Stranded on the snow-covered side of a mountain, they will have to do the unthinkable to survive. 

Initially, 29 passengers survive the collision but they must endure freezing temperatures with no winter clothes and only a few light snacks for food. The landscape is barren, and as night falls, the temperature drops below zero. The remaining survivors have no idea if help is coming. They will have to battle starvation, hypothermia, blizzards, and avalanches for more than two months before finally finding the strength to try and save themselves.

It's the incredible true story of survival in the elements and two young men's attempt to hike to civilization and get them all out.

Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/againsttheodds.


Support us by supporting our sponsors!


See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next
Today
FAN FAVORITE: Teddy Roosevelt's Amazon Expedition | River's End | 4
After weeks on the River of Doubt, Theodore Roosevelt’s expedition is on the verge of collapse. But hope emerges when they find clues that Brazilian frontiersmen may be living and working in the wilderness nearby. As Roosevelt’s health deteriorates, drastic measures must be taken ... Show More
47m 56s
Today
FAN FAVORITE: Trapped on Mt. Hood | Search and Rescue | 3
Morning provides no relief for the Oregon Episcopal School climbers trapped without food or water high on Mount Hood. The storm that forced them to take shelter in a snow cave shows no signs of letting up. Two of the climbers embark on a perilous journey to find help, while elite ... Show More
44m 23s
Aug 21
FAN FAVORITE: Trapped on Mt. Hood | Considered Lost | 2
With night falling, the student climbers and their adult chaperones must take refuge in a cramped, frigid, and hastily dug snow cave. Their leader, Father Tom Goman, begins to succumb to hypothermia. Meanwhile, search and rescue teams prepare to deploy. But as the storm that firs ... Show More
37m 29s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2023
Boston Molasses Disaster | A Deadly Deluge | 1
On January 15, 1919 a giant storage tank holding more than two million gallons of molasses collapsed, sending a deadly wave crashing into the streets of Boston’s busy North End. The flood was over in minutes, but it left death and destruction in its wake. Victims and their famili ... Show More
41m 10s
Nov 2022
Le Crash du Mont St Odile
Le 20 janvier 1992, un Airbus A320 assurant la liaison Lyon-Strasbourg, avec 96 personnes à son bord, percute les montagnes vosgiennes quelques minutes avant son atterrissage. Mais pour les rescapés et les familles des victimes, ce n’est que le début de l’enfer. Les secours mettr ... Show More
23m 28s
Feb 2024
Plane Crash in the High Sierras
In 1976, Lauren Elder takes up the last-minute offer of a sightseeing flight with some friends. The plan is to range out over the desert, stop for a picnic, then head home before it’s dark. As she boards the light aircraft, Lauren never imagines she’ll end up stranded on a mounta ... Show More
51m 38s
Jan 2022
The Rise and Fall of China’s First States
China’s late Neolithic period saw the emergence of increasingly powerful groups of elites who buried themselves in lavishly decorated tombs and built palaces and public buildings at the hearts of their fortified settlements. From these political centers, the elites built and rule ... Show More
41m 3s
Nov 2022
The Battle of the Tollense Valley
More than 3,000 years ago, two armies met in a titanic Bronze Age battle along a river in northern Germany. We don’t know why they fought or who won, but thanks to stunning archaeological discoveries, we know how they died, where they come from, and what their lives were like.Pat ... Show More
40m 28s
Oct 2021
Roaring Twenties | The Great Crash | 4
On a misty morning in May 1927, Charles Lindbergh climbed into the cramped cockpit of his single engine plane, The Spirit of St. Louis. After a bumpy taxi and takeoff at a New York runway, he took to the skies, on a flight that would break records and make him a national hero.At ... Show More
39m 16s
May 2022
The Beginnings of Civilization in the Andes: The Mounds of Norte Chico
The arid shoreline between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific seems like an unlikely place to host one of the world's earliest complex societies. But more than 5,000 years ago, the people of the Norte Chico Culture built cities, temples, and monuments that laid the foundation fo ... Show More
39m 17s