IsYellowjacketsBased on a True Story? All About the Gory Aftermath of the 1972 Plane Crash That Inspired the Series

Mar. 15, 2025

‘Yellowjackets’ on Showtime.Photo: Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME

Showtime’sYellowjacketsis loosely based on a devastating plane crash.

In 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed in the Andes mountains, leaving only 16 survivors. To stay alive in the brutally cold conditions, they resorted to cannibalism and were eventually rescued after 72 days.

Streaming on Netflix and Paramount+,Yellowjackets, starring Melanie Lynskey,Christina RicciandJuliette Lewis, tells an eerily similar story of a high school women’s soccer team whose aircraft goes down in the Canadian wilderness in 1996.

While stranded for 19 months, they do whatever is needed to survive, which comes back to haunt them when an anonymous blackmailer threatens to reveal their secrets 25 years later.

“There was a girl in my high school who poisoned another girl’s food for fun,” she toldThe New York Timesin 2021 of more real-life moments that inspired her show. “Only showing girls getting along is not painting a full picture.”

Here’s everything to know about the Showtime seriesYellowjacketsand the events that inspired it.

IsYellowjacketsbased on a true story?

‘Yellowjackets’ on Showtime.Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME ;

The crash killed 12 people and left many injured. Provisions — mostly candy bars and wine — ran out within a week and passengers resorted to eating corpses. Between the freezing conditions and lack of food and water, six others died. An avalanche ultimately buried eight more.

What have the survivors of the 1972 Andes Mountain plane crash said about their experience?

Roberto Canessa one of the 16 survivors of an airplane crash in the Chilean Andes in 1972.MIGUEL ROJO/AFP/Getty

MIGUEL ROJO/AFP/Getty

“It’s not how you survive but why you survive,” the pediatric cardiologist said in 2016. “My mother [once] told me, ‘If one of my children died, I couldn’t make it through life, I would die of sadness.’ So I had to go back and tell my mother, ‘Don’t cry anymore, I’m alive.’ So I think that was the driving force for me.”

Nearly a decade later, he spoke withTodayabout resorting to cannabilism.

“I thought if I would die, I would be proud that my body would be used for someone else,” he said of the decision. Canessa was one of the two men who made the harrowing trek out of the mountains — an effort that ultimately led to his teammates' rescue.

Where isYellowjacketsfilmed?

‘Yellowjackets’ on Showtime.Colin Bentley/SHOWTIME

Colin Bentley/SHOWTIME

Yellowjacketsis mostly filmed at Bridge Studios near Vancouver, Canada. The production team utilizes the complex, which features 15 acres of soundstages, to shoot both indoor and outdoor scenes.

According to production designer Margot Ready, who worked onYellowjacketsseason 2, she and her crew got very creative when tasked with creating wintery forest scenes on soundstages.

“I’ve learned over the years that if you mix real materials with fake material, somehow your brain buys it,” she toldIndieWire. “So we brought in 30 percent real trees [and engineered] them to hang from the ceiling. If you could get a real tree with real bark in every frame, then your brain accepts the foam trees [around it].”

As for all the snow, Ready said, “We used up so much Krendl-blown snow that the entire province of British Columbia ran out. We had to order more from Alberta.”

When will season 3 ofYellowjacketspremiere?

‘Yellowjackets’ on Showtime.Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME

Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME

Yellowjacketsseason 3 premiered on Feb. 14 with the season’s first two episodes. The forthcoming eight episodes will be released weekly on Sundays starting Feb. 23, perForbes.

Audiences can stream the latest episodes onParamount+ with Showtime.

source: people.com