Nando Parrado: Luck, destiny and the ability to react

A heartbreaking detail from the story: Nando was offered several free seats on the aircraft before departure, and rushed to call his mother and sister - 'to give them a gift of love'. Both were killed in the crash.

Later there's a counterpoint to this in the sheer luck that allowed the passengers to survive; there were three points of impact (moving at more or less full speed). After the second, the aircraft slid 25,000 feet without hitting any rocks at all.

And after that we get into how the survivors began to organise themselves.

Nando was clear that he 'isn't a teacher', but order is emerging from the way he tells the story. Loosely: The universe will deal indiscriminately with you; the important thing is having the resourcefulness to take control in the aftermath.

He's telling us a story, though, so it's entirely possible there are 503 different interpretations elsewhere in the room...