On October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed high in the Andes mountains, carrying a team of young rugby players, their friends, and family. Isolated at an altitude of over 11,000 feet amidst freezing temperatures and catastrophic injuries, the survivors faced near-zero odds of rescue. Early in their ordeal, their survival strategy swung dramatically due to a small transistor radio recovered from the aircraft cabin.
Roy Harley, an engineering student among the passengers, managed to manipulate the device's antenna using improvised wiring, allowing the group to pick up faint AM radio broadcasts from Santiago. On day eleven, as the group gathered around the tiny speaker, they heard a devastating news report announcing that the search for their missing aircraft had been officially called off. While the revelation plunged the survivors into deep grief, it ultimately served as a vital catalyst for their survival.
Realizing that no search parties were coming, they abandoned the passive waiting strategy and resolved to save themselves. Later efforts to build a two-way transmitter using batteries and parts scavenged from the severed tail section proved unsuccessful due to voltage mismatching, but the initial radio reception had already reshaped their mindset, eventually compelling Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa to undertake their harrowing 10-day trek across the mountain range to find help.