A low-level incident would perhaps help to explain Vulovics unlikely survival, although such theories remain unverified and would rely on elaborate falsification of chemical traces and other evidence of an explosion on board. In 1971 she joined JAT Airways, Yugoslavias national flag carrier and the countrys largest airline. All Rights Reserved. [20], In the early 1990s, Vulovi and her husband divorced. Then, read about Charles Joughin, the baker on the Titanic who survived the frigid waters that night through interesting means. There was another odd anomaly: officials explained that Vulovi survived because she was in the rear of the aircraft but she stated in interviews that she was discovered in the middle part of the plane. A young Vesna Vulovi in her flight attendant uniform. Vesna Vulovic survived the longest fall on record without a parachute when her plane exploded and she fell 6 miles, 551 yards. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. She never regained memory of the accident or her rescue. Vesna Vulovic - stewardess who survived 33,000ft fall, diesTODAY I AM BRINGING YOU A NEW VIDEO -----AND UPLOAD A VIDEO ON YOUTUBE FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT. Fifty years ago today, air stewardess Vesna Vulovic plunged more than 33,000 feet from an exploding airliner, landed in aCzechoslovak mountain range, and survived. He didn't want to go out at all. ", "Too good to be true? [4] The next thing she remembered was seeing her parents in her hospital room about one month later.[3]. This claim was debunked by flight data obtained from the aircrafts black boxes. The video demonstrated that the fuselage crash landed in the thick snow at a favourable angle and thats most likely what saved Vesnas life. The investigation, partially based on secret documents from the Czech civil aviation authority, claimed that the aircraft had an emergency situation and descended unexpectedly, without radio communication. Much belated I thought I had responded but it didnt show up. That said, a plane thats landing isnt falling, because free fall implies 9.8 m/s/s acceleration. However, in 2009 two investigative journalists in Prague claimed the plane had probably been mistaken for an enemy aircraft and shot down by the Czechoslovakian air force, causing it to fall and break up at a much lower height than previously believed. Vesna Vulovi was found dead by her friends in her. They seemed to know that they would die. [20] They also hypothesized that the call received by Kvllsposten, claiming responsibility for the aircraft's downing, was a hoax. They never reached the second stopover in Zagreb, Croatia. "I was broken, and the doctors put me back together again," she told the New York Times in 2008. On This Day in 1918: The tallest man ever is born, Prizes dont come any bigger: World's tallest man Sultan Kosen visits British school after competition win, The tragic death of Robert Wadlow, the tallest man ever, How to set or break a Guinness World Records title. In total, 128 terror attacks were carried out by Croatian nationalists against Yugoslavia between 1962 and 1982. Sign up here to receive my weekly post in your inbox. Required fields are marked *. She wished to live in London but when that seemed impossible, she was inspired by her friend and decided to become a flight attendant. [4][16], In September 1972, Vulovi expressed willingness to resume working as a flight attendant. That is all. Its actually not at all clear how she survived the fall. [1] Vulovi's friends said that she had struggled with heart ailments in the years leading up to her death. Vesna passed away in the year 2016 at age 66. It was not just surviving the crash but also the mental trauma of knowing that you have experienced one of the worst things that could possibly happen to you, Glenday added. She told the paper: People always want to sit next to me on the plane. Eight months into her flight attendant career, Vesna Vulovi was told to join the crew of JAT Flight 367, flying from Stockholm to Belgrade with a stopover in Copenhagen. Miloevi was later tried at The Hague for crimes against humanity. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? Vulovi became a celebrity in Yugoslavia and was deemed a national hero. He told me that he took the photograph in 1972 at Belgrade airport. She suffered a fractured skull, two crushed vertebrae, and had broken her pelvis, ribs, and both legs. [1] She was soon made an honorary citizen of Srbsk Kamenice. They claimed that the very thing that almost kept Vulovi from being a flight attendant is what ultimately saved her life. The video added, At 4:01 pm, 46 minutes after take off, an explosion in the luggage compartment tore the aircraft into three pieces. Brad was reportedly thrown around so violently that his tightly-laced shoe came flying off. The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. WHAT MAKES A GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS TITLE? On the same day as the tragedy of Flight 367, another bomb was set off on a train between Vienna and Zagreb, injuring six people. [27], On the basis of her conversations with Honke, Vulovi disputed the assertion that she was discovered in the rear section of the DC-9, as claimed in some reports. These injuries resulted in her being temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. [4] "I don't know what to say when people say I was lucky," she remarked. Reminded me of the British airman who fell out a Lancaster at 18,000 feet and survived. She had a fractured skull, two crushed vertebrae and she had broken her pelvis, several ribs and both legs. Vulovis doctors concurred with the air investigators and added their own conclusions. freefall? I have fallen tens of thousands of feet dozens of times without any injury whatsoever. She was mistaken for another attendant with the same name but agreed to take her place. How did Vesna Vulovic survive? At 1:30 PM on January 26, 1972, the crew met Flight 367 at the Copenhagen Airport and watched as the passengers and previous crew deplaned. Her physicians also concluded her low blood pressure to be a cause. Once taken to the hospital, Vulovic was in a coma for as long as a month (accounts here vary) and was temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. Vesna was found screaming inside the wreckage by Bruno Honke, a local villager and former World War 2 medic who was able to administer vital first aid before rescuers arrived. Unsubscribe at any time. Serbian-born Vesna Vulovi was 22 years old and had been a flight attendant for only eight months before the fateful crash. She fainted upon being shown a newspaper headline by her doctor and had to be tranquilized. List of sole survivors of aviation accidents or incidents, "Vesna Vulovic, Flight Attendant Who Survived Jetliner Blast, Dies at 66", "Vesna Vulovic, air stewardess who survived a plane crash obituary", "Vesna Vulovic: How to survive a bombing at 33,000 feet", "Serbia's Most Famous Survivor Fears That Recent History Will Repeat Itself", "Vesna Vulovic: Flight Attendant Who Survived Mid-Air Explosion and 33,000-foot Fall, Dies at 66", "Njemaki mediji o sluaju JAT 1972: Napad hrvatske emigracije je plod mate tajnih slubi", "Vesna Vulovic, stewardess who survived 33,000ft fall, dies", "Official Abstract of the Final Report (English)", "Highest fall survived without parachute", "Bask in the Bracing Unsentimentality of Vesna Vulovic, the Only Person to Survive a 1972 Plane Crash", "Fate or fluke? A soft touchdown after a stabilized approach down the glide slope is fine, a plunge nose first into the Atlantic ocean is not. The flight path, between Stockholm in Sweden and Belgrade in Serbia, took the aircraft over Czechoslovakia - now the Czech Republic - and that is where the plane exploded into three pieces. While many other passengers were sucked out of the plane after the explosion, Vulovi became pinned by the cart. I think it was the man who put the bomb in the baggage. No arrests were ever made. But it was no easy feat. Following the bombing, Vulovi spent days in a coma and was hospitalised for several months. Thank you for the link! Vulovi has said in interview that she does not believe the conspiracy theory but added that as she does not recall the crash, she cant shed any light on the matter. JAT Flight 367 had two scheduled stopovers in between Stockholm and Belgrade. [21] Guinness World Records continues to list her as the record-holder for surviving the highest fall without a parachute. What amount of force did she have to withstand? [1] This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. She was 66. [4], Vulovi told reporters that she did not think of her fall every day, but admitted to struggling with survivor's guilt. Her recovery period was actually relatively short and incredibly successful a fact she attributes to a childhood diet that included chocolate, spinach, and fish oil.. "The man who found me told me that I was in the middle part of the plane," she said. The guards changed shifts every six hours, and no one was allowed in to see her except for her parents and doctors. "Everybody wanted to buy something for his or her family," she recalled. A German man, upon arriving at the crash site, found all of the planes passengers dead, save one. 3 January 1950; d. 23 December 2016) was 23 and working as a Jugoslavenski Aerotransport hostess when she survived a fall from 10,160 m (33,333 ft) over Srbsk Kamenice, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic), on 26 January 1972. She told reporters that the last thing she remembered before waking up in hospital was greeting passengers as they boarded the plane. She was an amazing woman. At first, she could only move her left leg, and one month thereafter, she was able to move her right. As the cabin depressurised, the passengers and other flight crew were believed to have been sucked out of the plane, into freezing temperatures, falling to their deaths.. In the first paragraph of her Wikipedia entry and every news article about her, it says that she is in the Guinness Book of Records for surviving the highest fall without a parachute. [1][a] Vulovi's physicians concluded that her history of low blood pressure caused her to pass out quickly after the cabin depressurized and kept her heart from bursting on impact. "I am like a cat, I have had nine lives," she told the New York Times. Her final years were spent in seclusion, and she struggled with survivor guilt. When the cabin depressurized, the passengers and other flight crew were blown out of the aircraft and fell to their deaths. How Vesna Vulovic Survived the 33,333 feet Fall? He clearly thinks highly of Vulovi. The world's highest stuff: notes, basketball shots, backflips and more! Vesna Vulovic's miraculously survived a fall of 10,058 metres without a parachute a world record and fearlessly flew afterward, having no memory of the event Author of the article: The . Vulovi later campaigned on behalf of the Democratic Party, advocating for Serbia's entry into the European Union. As the cabin depressurized, the passengers and other flight crew were believed to have been sucked out of the plane into freezing temperatures, falling to their deaths. Air safety investigators believe that Vulovis position within the aircraft at the time of the explosion helped her survive the fall. Other crew members saw him, as did the station manager in Copenhagen. Read about our approach to external linking. She was found by woodsman Bruno Honke, who heard her screaming in the dark as the rest of the plane came crashing to the ground. The only difference is when I completed my freefall the plane I was in was still intact whereas Vesnas was not. Vulovic's record fall gained her celebrity status in her home country, A Yugoslav Airlines DC-9 identical to the one blown up in 1972, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. Vesna was found by a farmer who managed to keep her alive until the rescuers arrival. The first thing she did upon waking was ask for a cigarette. Just 46 minutes into the fight, disaster struck. Nobody ever expected me to live this long.. Alerted to the situation, the East Germans continued to track the plane after it crossed into Czechoslovak airspace before the radar contact suddenly became more prominent and then disappeared. [5] The explosion caused the aircraft to break apart over the Czechoslovak village of SrbskKamenice. I think he had checked in a bag in Stockholm, got off in Copenhagen and never re-boarded the flight. The spectacular survival story won Vulovic celebrity status in Serbia, where she channelled her fame into campaigning for political causes. She was fired from her job at the airline in 1990 after taking part in protests against President Slobodan Milosevic but avoided arrest. As her death-defying tale continues to fascinate people around the world, she will also live on as a symbol of survival against all odds. The crash debris was spread over a small area, which they cited as further proof that the aircraft disintegrated at low level, probably around 800 meters (2,600 feet) above the ground. Vulovic was working on a Yugoslav Airlines Douglas DC-9 on 26 Jan 1972 when a suspected bomb brought the plane down among mountains in Czechoslovakia. Credit: Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. I remembered there was a woman who held the record for the longest freefall without a parachute, who fell for 33,000 feet and survived. Vulovi was rescued by a woodsman who followed her screams in the dark forest. Funnily enough, I could remember the distance but not her name or how exactly shed managed to survive this unbelievable fall from an aircraft. I'm a lurker and an ARFF firefighter, and I consider your, Sounds great! Theres no reference to Vesna Vulovi at all and the category simply doesnt exist. She plummeted back to earth in the tail in sub-zero temperatures, where she landed on a steep, snow-covered slope near a village, which is believed to have softened her fall. As part of the Guinness World Records Hall of Fame ceremony in 1985, Paul McCartney presented Vesna with a certificate and medal for achieving the highest fall survived without a parachute. [11] Her injuries resulted in her being temporarily paralyzed below the waist. It was initially her love for The Beatles which led to her future as an air hostess. However, the airline had confused her for another stewardess with the same first name, thus the plane departed Denmark with 23-year-old Vesna Vulovi on board. "I was found with my head down and my colleague on top of me. The last thing I remember is boarding the plane by the rear door and seeing a few women cleaning the plane.. Serbia's state TV said Saturday . Folk Figure. Honke, the man who found Vulovi alive after the crash, had a granddaughter born six weeks after her fall; she was named Vesna in Vulovi's honour. She wasnt even supposed to be on duty on the day of the fatal flight. We'll use the information you provide us to contact you via email about our relevant content, products and services. My point remains though that in Vesnas case (which is so popular for being the longest survived fall) she didnt even fall. Due to her amnesia, Vesna Vulovi had no memory of the crash or the explosion but Air safety investigators believe that Vulovis position within the aircraft at the time of the explosion helped her survive the fall. Copyright 2023 The Indian Express [P] Ltd. All Rights Reserved, The incredible story of Vesna Vulovi, a flight attendant who fell 33,333 feet and survived, Vesna passed away at 66 in 2016 (Source: guinnessworldrecords.com), Skincare alert: Why you may have enlarged pores, The importance of solitude why time on your own can sometimes be good for you, Curvy mermaid statue causes stir in Southern Italy, https://images.indianexpress.com/2020/08/1x1.png, Guinness alert: Worlds largest emerald weighs, Chef duo breaks Gordon Ramsays record for the fastest time to fillet a 10 lb fish; also create largest sushi roll. [3][d] She attributed the divorce to her chain smoking, which her husband disapproved of. Vulovi underwent several operations to restore her movement. "People always want to sit next to me on the plane," she said. Although there are other examples of aircrew falling from considerable altitude, none come close to 30,000 feet. Amazingly though, Vesna was able to walk again after ten months, though she had a permanent limp because of the twisting of her spine, Guinness World Records shared. While many other passengers were sucked out of the plane after the explosion, Vulovi became pinned by the cart. With a history of low blood pressure, Vulovi knew it was unlikely shed pass the medical exam. When she arrived, however, she found a downtrodden crew. [18] Vulovi continued to fly regularly, stating that other passengers were surprised to see her on flights and wanted to sit next to her. The stewardess was temporarily paralysed from the waist down by the fall but in time she made a near-full recovery and returned to work for the airline in a desk job.
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