Trapped Premiers on History Canada 8PM Saturday Night

On the 13th of October 1972 a turboprop plane carrying a rugby team from Uruguay crashed deep in the Andes mountains. Those who’d managed to make it out alive were stranded in one of the harshest places on earth. In the months that followed these men lived out one of the greatest survival stories of our time. Tomorrow night at 8PM, in the premier episode of the series Trapped, you can hear the stories of those that survived first hand. Nando Parrado will share details of his grueling trek across the mountains to find help, while Carlos Paez will reveal how he never gave up looking for his son, Carlitos, who’d also been a passenger on the plane.



Like many of you, I'd seen the movie Alive with Ethan Hawke years ago, but it came nowhere near in inspiring me as much as the real accounts of these men have. Working on the show as visual researcher I confronted the story daily, sourcing long forgotten footage of the rescue and the reunion with loved ones. I found photos of the survivors struggling to survive in such a desperate climate, living within a fuselage they’d made their home. Every bit I saw revealed an incredible strength of spirit, the kind of spirit that has now led each one of the survivors to positions of wealth and great personal success.

In a bizarre bit of irony, the film crew who was shooting dramatic reenactments at a rock quarry north of Toronto found themselves trapped by a severe snowstorm. Dangerous conditions such as white-outs had closed all roads in the area. Location Manager, Craig Williams took on the task of arranging a police escort for all film crew and their vehicles. Fortunately for them, this time help was close at hand.


Trapped will air on History Channel in Canada Saturday, September 8 at 8PM, Monday the 10th and Tuesday the 11th at 2AM and again next Saturday the 15th at 8PM.

National Geographic Channel will broadcast the series in most other countries in the world.

The UK premier on National Geographic is Monday, October 1 at 9PM.


All photos above borrowed from the DOP's flickr site.