Survivors of Chilean Plane Crash Considered Eating Pilot

Survivors of a plane crash in southern Chile who spent five days huddled in a broken fuselage in sub-zero temperatures said yesterday they considered cannibalism during their ordeal, in an echo of an Andean plane crash 36 years ago.

The Cessna 208 with nine passengers crashed into a mountainside in Patagonia, near La Junta, a town across the border in Argentina, on Saturday. Recent volcanic explosions in the region have forced air routes out to sea, taking experienced pilots off their normal course.

"We were flying in very bad conditons. There was rain and sleet. We were only 10 minutes from arriving," said Jose Miguel Almonacid, one of the survivors.

"Suddenly, we went into a cloud and when we came out, we were in front of the mountain. I managed to scream 'watch out' when I heard the explosion."

On Wednesday afternoon a Blackhawk helicopter from the Chilean air force spotted the Cessna half buried in the forest, but due to wind, snow and the inaccessability of the site the rescue operation continued throughout Thursday, with the nine passengers and the body of the pilot still unable to be removed.

Pilot Nelson Bahamondes survived the initial impact but slowly bled to death inside the cockpit, finally dying two days after the crash.

Soon after, the survivors' hunger began to deplete their strength and they debated whether to eat the pilot. "We thought about the pilot, I don't know how to say it ... to feed ourselves from him. We thought about this, but some people were not in agreement because the situation was already so extreme."