The accident and the 72 days that follow became known as the Miracle of the Andes. Now the flight was carrying 45 passengers and crew, including 19 members of the old Christians Club rugby union team, along with their family, supporters, and friends. They were all Roman Catholic, by the way. Now apparently the inexperienced pilot screwed up. Believing he was near the airport and misreading the plane's instruments, he drifted off course and began to descend too early and the aircraft struck a mountain. It ripped off both wings and the tail section. The fuselage then slid down a glacier at an estimated speed of 220 miles per hour, traveling nearly a half mile before crashing into the ice and snow.