Javier Alfredo Methol Abal (11 December 1935 – 4 June 2015) was an Uruguayan businessman and lecturer, known for being one of the 16 survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571.^[1]

He was born in Montevideo in 1935 to an upper-middle class family of Basque-French and Galician descent.

After graduating from high school at the Elbio Fernández School, he started working at the Abal Hnos S.A. cigarette factory, which belonged to his mother's family.^[2] At the age of 20, he moved to Cuba and the United States to become a technician in the tobacco industry. While in the United States, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and had to remain hospitalized there for five months before returning to Uruguay.^[3]

He was one of the 45 people who on October 13, 1972, boarded the Fairchild Hiller FH-227 of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, together with his wife Liliana Navarro. At the time of the accident he was 36 years old and had 4 children. In the accident, his cousin Francisco Panchito Abal, died of injuries he sustained in the crash. On the other hand, his wife Liliana Navarro, lost her life during the avalanche that also killed other initial survivors.^[4] Within the community that lived at the Fairchild for more than 70 days, Javier Methol's mature figure allowed him to be one of the main leaders. The boys affectionately called him Dumbo.

After his return to Uruguay following the crash in the Andes, he continued working at Abal Hnos S.A., being a member of the company's board of directors and manager of corporate affairs.^[5] In 1979, it was acquired by the tobacco company Philip Morris International.^[6] In addition, for several years he gave motivational lectures based on his survival experience.^[7]

Methol passed away on June 4, 2015, at the British Hospital of Montevideo, at the age of 79. ^[8] The following day the wake was celebrated with a mass at the San José de la Montaña de Carrasco and a funeral procession was held to the Buceo Cemetery where his remains were buried.^[9]

He was the founder and first president of the ¡Viven! Foundation in 2007.^[10]

In 1960 he married Liliana Beatriz Navarro, with whom he had four children: María Laura, Pablo Javier, Anna Inés and Marie Noel.^[11]

After Navarro's death, four years later, he remarried Ana María Amorrortu from Argentina, with whom he had four more children: Guillermo Javier, Rafael Javier, Ignacio Javier and Ximena María.^[12]

He was a cousin of Francisco Abal, who died during the accident.^[13] He was a Catholic.^[14]

• Numa Turcatti
• Roberto Canessa
• Carlos Páez Rodríguez
• Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors

• Piers Paul Read. «¡Viven!: La tragedia de los Andes.» Editor: Editorial Noguer (1974). ISBN 8427938284.
• De Piers Paul Read (2023). ¡Viven! El triunfo del espíritu humano: La verdadera historia de los protagonistas de La sociedad de la nieve, la nueva película de J. A. Bayona. Barcelona, Spain: B de Bolsillo. p. 448, pp. s/n. ISBN 978-84-1314-736-9.