Andes Plane Crash: Terror At 30,000 Feet | Preview (Channel 5)

This three-part series tells the extraordinary story of human survival against all the odds, told by those who lived to tell the tale.

When a Uruguayan rugby team’s plane crashed into the Andes Mountains in October 1972, they were stranded in one of the world's most unforgiving environments with little hope of rescue. They faced an impossible situation.

Of the 45 people who boarded the plane, only 16 made it out alive. The group of passengers who survived the plane crash faced a dilemma too shocking for many to comprehend - die a slow, excruciating death or eat the frozen bodies of their dead friends. Their decision would live with them forever.

The torturous winter landscape of the Andes Mountains was barren, bitter and brutal. They endured freezing temperatures with no winter clothes and very little food. Overnight the temperature dropped well below zero.

With no idea if help was coming - they had to battle starvation, hypothermia, and avalanches for more than two months before finally finding the strength to try a trek through an unimaginable, dangerous and inhospitable mountain range.

Through the vivid and powerful testimony of survivors, this documentary series tells the definitive story of their heroism, in what became known as the "Miracle of the Andes”.

Begins Tuesday 9th January at 10pm on Channel 5.