Chile Crash Survivors Tell Their Story

Rescuers prepare to search for a missing Cessna Caravan in southern Chile, Tuesday, June 10, 2008. The plane was found crashed on Wednesday, June 11, 2008, with nine survivors among the 10 people aboard. The airplane disappeared on June 7, 2008 on a flight from Puerto Montt to La Junta, a small village in Chile's Aysen region. Passengers survived freezing weather and storms by huddling in the cabin of the wrecked aircraft, which came to rest suspended in trees, but the pilot died two days after the crash. Credit: AP Photo/La Tercera

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Nine survivors of a plane crash in Chile's frigid southern forests said they survived a four-day wait for rescue by huddling close together for warmth, sheltering inside the wreckage and sharing what food they had.

A search helicopter spotted the wreckage of the Cessna Caravan on Wednesday and found nine of the 10 people on board injured but alive.

The only fatality was 65-year-old pilot Nelson Bahamondes — who may have saved the lives of the rest. Survivors said he apparently died from internal bleeding two days after the Patagonia Airlines plane crashed while on a domestic route from Puerto Montt to the village of La Junta in Aysen region.

The plane disappeared on Saturday, setting off a massive ground and air search. The cause of its fall was not known.

Bahamondes maneuvered the plane to lessen the impact of the crash in the heavily forested area, according to Deputy Interior Minister Felipe Harboe. It came to rest suspended in thick trees, but close enough to the ground that the survivors could exit and enter the wreckage for shelter, officials said.

Temperatures at night fell to 24 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 4 centigrade), though the passengers carried cold weather clothing.

"It was very cold. There was wind, storms and we fought all that by remaining all of us close together," said 29-year-old survivor Miguel Almonacid. "We used our clothes, our bags and fire to get warm. And we prayed a lot."

At one point, Almonacid said, he thought they "would die inside the plane."

But Aysen Gov. Silvia Moreno said the passengers "survived helping each other, sharing the few things and food they carried."

Almonacid told Santiago's Radio Cooperativa that before he died, the pilot told them to use the gasoline in the plane to start a fire.

The survivors consumed the milk and food Almonacid was carrying for workers at the salmon processing factory where he works.

The survivors often heard the engines of passing search planes and helicopters, but it wasn't until Wednesday that they finally saw a helicopter and were able to signal to it for help. They were close to leaving the site on foot in search of help when they were rescued, Almonacid said.

All the survivors were hurt in the crash, but authorities said none of the injuries were life-threatening. They were flown to the town of Puerto Montt for treatment.

The area where the plane crashed is near the erupting Chaiten volcano. Three of the survivors had been evacuated from the town of Chaiten last month when the volcano first erupted.

• Emergency Locators: Saving Lives with Greater Frequency
• Using Aviation to Save Lives
• Top 10 Most Notable-Looking Post-War Aircraft