The survivor of a horrific Andes plane crash who ate the dead bodies of his fellow passengers for survival has passed away. The stranded passengers were even pictured next to the cannibalised spines of their friends. Alvaro Mangino Schmid was one of only 16 survivors in the 1972 tragedy. Rescuers took 72 days to find the survivors of the crash who had resorted to cannibalising the bodies of passengers who had died in order to stay alive. The plane he was on was carrying members of the Uruguay's Old Christians rugby team when it crash-landed 3,600 meters above sea level in the remote Andes mountains. Schmid, who rarely spoke publicly about the horrifying events , has died from pneumonia just days before his 72nd birthday. However, in the book titled, Snow Society, written about the tragic events of the 1972 Uruguayan crash, Schmid broke his silence. He revealed more on his decision to cannibalise the bodies of his former passengers which he called: "The hardest decision I made in my life." The book Snow Society would be the inspiration for the hit Netflix film Society of Snow, released in 2023. The gruelling 2023 film was nominated for multiple Oscars in the 2024 Academy Awards for both the best Makeup and Hairstyling, and the Best International Feature Film categories. The Netflix movie's director J.A. Bayona wrote on Instagram on March 29 about Schmid's condition after the crash: "In the crash, he fractured his leg and spent 72 days crawling through the snow. However, despite his disability, he will be remembered for never stopping working in the mountains, constantly melting snow to supply water to his colleagues." Unlike Alvaro, another survivor Roberto Canessa has been far more open about the experience. Canessa has described what life was like while stranded after the crash and even revealed whose idea it was to cannibalise the bodies to stay alive. While the survivors were stranded in the mountain they were able to get their hands on a small radio from the plane. From the radio the group heard the news that the search for them had been called off. They were all presumed dead. Canessa revealed how the revelation shaped the remaining survivors' mindsets. He said: "I felt that the world was going on its way and that we were out of the world. It's a very strange sensation to be alive while you are considered dead." He added: "But it also resettled us in the sense that waiting for rescue was over. If we didn't get ourselves out, we were all going to die." Canessa also revealed the idea to eat the dead bodies was his, and called the choice humiliating. He recalled the thought of being reunited with his mother is what motivated him to continue going. "You are eating a dead person and the person is your friend and you wonder, 'Should I do this? Or should I let myself die?'" He added: "But I have seen how mothers cry when they lose their sons and I didn't want my mother to go through that. I realised that when you have a reason for doing something, nothing stops you." Every year on December 22 the rescued survivors would meet to remember their shared horror.