'' Alive '' tells the story of an Uruguayan Rugby team ( who were alumni of Stella Maris College ) , and their friends and family who were involved in the airplane crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 . The plane crashed into the Andes mountains on Friday , October 13 , 1972 . Of the 45 people on the flight , only 16 survived in sub-zero temperatures . After numerous days spent searching for survivors , the rescue team was forced to end the search . Consequently , the survivors had to sustain life with rations found in the wreckage after the plane had crashed . The rations did not last long , and in order to stay alive it became necessary for the survivors to eat the bodies of the dead . This was possible because the bodies had been preserved with the freezing temperatures and the snow . The book was published two years after the survivors of the crash were rescued . The author interviewed many of the survivors as well as the family members of the passengers before writing this book to obtain facts about the crash . He wanted to write the story as it had happened without embellishment or fictionalizing it . The author comments on this process in the '' Acknowledgments '' section : I was given a free hand in writing this book by both the publisher and the sixteen survivors . At times I was tempted to fictionalize certain parts of the story because this might have added to their dramatic impact but in the end I decided that the bare facts were sufficient to sustain the narrative ... when I returned in October 1973 to show them the manuscript of this book , some of them were disappointed by my presentation of their story . They felt that the faith and friendship which inspired them in the cordillera do not emerge from these pages . It was never my intention to underestimate these qualities , but perhaps it would be beyond the skill of any writer to express their own appreciation of what they lived through . The book was a critical success . Walter Clemons declared that it " will become a classic in the literature of survival . " D. Keith Mano , of '' The New York Times Book Review '' gave the book a " rave " review , stating that " Read 's style is savage : unliterary , undecorated as a prosecutor 's brief . " He also described the book as an important one : Cowardice , selfishness , whatever : their essential heroism can weather Read 's objectivity . He has made them human . ' Alive ' is thunderous entertainment : I know the events by rote , nonetheless I found it electric . And important . ' Alive ' should be read by sociologists , educators , the Joint Chief of Staff . By anyone , in fact , whose business it is to prepare men for adversity . Michael A. Rogers concurs , stating that " Read has risen above the sensational and managed a book of real and lasting value . " The first edition was released in 1974 . A paperback which referenced the film '' Alive : The Miracle of the Andes '' , was released in 1993 . A new softcover edition , with a revised introduction and additional interviews with Piers Paul Read , Coche Inciarte , and Alvaro Mangino , was released by HarperCollins in 2005 . This edition also has a new subtitle : '' Sixteen Men , Seventy-two Days , and Insurmountable Odds -- The Classic Adventure of Survival in the Andes '' . The book was also re-released , simply titled '' Alive '' , in October 2012
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors