History.com: Miracle of the Andes: How Survivors of the Flight Disaster Struggled to Stay Alive

When an Uruguayan rugby team crashed in the Andes on Friday, October 13, 1972, cannibalism helped some survive two months in harsh conditions. The Uruguayan Air Force Fairchild F-227 had crashed into a glacial valley high in the Andes. The tail was missing -- cut away from the rest of the fuselage by the right wing, which had sheared off after hitting the mountainside. There were now 29 survivors, alone in the bitter cold of the Andes, with no way of contacting the outside world.