Snow Circle: Not All Is Right in the Netflix Movie!

Netflix’s new hit, The Ring of Snow, tells the fascinating story of a 1972 plane crash in the Andes and the tragic events that followed. The film is hailed by the families of the real passengers, living and dead, as the most accurate cinematic depiction of the events. And many of them took part in its development and even made a few cameos.

However, not everything is 100% true. For the purposes of the story, director Juan Antonio Bayona resorted to some simplifications. Explanations.

The flight was canceled due to weather conditions

The film does not tell us the important fact of the true trajectory of the flight before the plane crashed into the Andes. This was announced by director Jay Bayona USA Today :”While flying to Santiago, Chile, they stopped in Mendoza due to weather and spent the night in the city. But we never showed this break in the journey“. This part was probably removed because it would have added time to the already long film. However, it could have given the audience a better introduction to some of the characters before the disaster.

Two helicopter rescue operations were carried out

The rescue work was carried out in two stages. Jay Bayona added another major change from the end of the film, which he explained to USA Today: “Two rescue operations were conducted to transport the survivors by helicopter“, he explains.In the first round, only half of them left, and the rescue team stayed with the survivors and spent the night with them. The next day they were picked up by another helicopter. But we are only showing one helicopter“. This change was probably made to emphasize the celebratory nature of survival and the solidarity between survivors.

The Uruguayan pilot died instantly

Immediately after the crash, the pilot cuts a short scene in which he informs the survivors of his proximity to Chile and recites a prayer for them. This scene was added to the film for dramatic effect, as the real pilot died instantly as soon as the plane crashed. The pilot in the film is also unnamed, although his and the co-pilot’s names are well documented.

The co-pilot survived for a short time and asked the passengers to shoot

Meanwhile, the other pilot survived the crash, but only for a day. The latter, who was called inexperienced during the flight, sat in the seat and asked the passengers to take a gun and kill him. The passengers refused and this scene was deleted from the film.

Roberto and Nando only had 3 days worth of food when they left for Chile

As Roberto and Nando leave for Chile, Tintin tells the other survivors that Nando and Roberto have enough food to last them ten days. This was not at all the case with the real Nando’s and Roberto, who only had three days worth of food for their incredibly difficult journey.

The survivors initially told the press that they were eating packaged food

Most of the aftermath of the plane crash is not addressed in the film, which focuses primarily on the survival story, nor much else before or after the crash. One of its biggest omissions, however, is the survivors’ initial reluctance to reveal how they survived for so long. Finally, after several days in the hospital, they held a press conference to explain the cannibalism, but first they told reporters that they survived on packaged food and cheese.

Ultra media results and sensationalism are not taken into account

After the press conference mentioned above, a media circus broke out around the 16 survivors, which was called the “Miracle of the Andes”. The survivors’ frank explanation of the cannibalism they used to survive initially caused negative reactions. They were even suspected of inventing parts of their story, such as avalanches, or hiding the fact that they had killed other passengers. These allegations were widely denied.