'Cannibal plane crash' survivor claims victims were 'first organ donors'

One of the survivors of a notorious plane crash in which the flesh of dead passengers was eaten to keep others alive for 72 days has described the dead as "the first organ donors".

Just 33 of 75 people onboard survived when Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed in the remote Andes mountains, with 14 dying soon later.

Medical student Roberto Canessa advised they sustain themselves with the bodies of the dead.

Survivor Ramon Sabella, 70, said that he eventually "got used" to the taste of human flesh.

He told The Sunday Times: "Of course, the idea of eating human flesh was terrible, repugnant.

“It was hard to put in your mouth. But we got used to it.”

“In a sense, our friends were some of the first organ donors in the world — they helped to nourish us and kept us alive.”

Carlos Paez, now a grandfather of five, added that "human flesh doesn’t taste of anything, really."

Now a motivational speaker, he said that most people agree with his fateful decision.

Paez added: “I always ask the audience, ‘Would any of you not have done the same thing?’ Nobody has ever put up their hand.”

Ten days after the crash, the survivors heard on the radio that the search for Flight 571 had been called off.

But after more than two months in which the remaining survivors hiked 38 miles into neighbouring Chile, they were miraculously rescued.

They initially claimed they had survived on cheese and other food, but it soon became clear that cannibalism had taken place.

Rumours swirled that survivors had killed each other in order to survive before these were debunked.