The explosion and crash killed everyone on board. But, there was confusion over their names, the GWR revealed. "I am like a cat, I have had nine lives.. Vesna Vulovic was a Serbian flight attendant who holds the Guinness world record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute: 10,160m (33,330ft; 6.31mi). 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. Vesna was born on January 3rd, 1950. In Yugoslavia she was celebrated as a national hero. She stated that her ordeal had turned her into an optimist. In 1985 Vulovi entered the Guinness Book of Records for the highest fall survived without a parachute. Vesna was found by a farmer who managed to keep her alive until the rescuer's arrival. That is all. The post states, directly, that she actually fell about 2,600 feet (at the point where the aircraft disintegrated) and that she does not hold any record for the longest survived fall or anything like it. Physics questions and answers. Nobody ever expected me to live this long.. 7 Vesna survived. [4] Vulovi attributed her recovery to her "Serbian stubbornness" and "a childhood diet that included chocolate, spinach, and fish oil". This brought the aircraft close to a sensitive military area, where it was perceived as a threat and shot down by Czech aircraft. Vulovis doctors concurred with the air investigators and added their own conclusions. Serbian-born Vesna Vulovi was 22 years old and had been a flight attendant for only eight months before the fateful crash. You know that Stockholm lies in Sweden right? Composition of the explosive and ignition charge has been determined. Youre right that if I was commenting on the blog as a whole I may be a bit off. Her physicians also concluded her low blood pressure to be a cause. Watch on. [3] She later campaigned on behalf of the Democratic Party and advocated for Serbia's entry into the European Union, which she believed would bring economic prosperity. Her final years were spent in seclusion, and she struggled with survivor guilt. The official accident report by the Czechoslovak Investigation Commission determined that a bomb on board exploded in the front baggage compartment which broke the aircraft in half. The cause of Flight 367s explosion and subsequent crash has been subject to several conspiracy theories over the years, the most popular of which suggested that the plane was mistakenly shot down by Czechoslovak anti-air missiles at a much lower altitude of 800 metres (2,600 ft). [12], Following the crash, Vulovi spent days in a coma, having fractured her skull and suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. We'll use the information you provide us to contact you via email about our relevant content, products and services. She was rushed to hospital where she fell into a coma for 10 days. But this post is written to imply that Vesna fell 33,000 feet. Although there are other examples of aircrew falling from considerable altitude, none come close to 30,000 feet. Though her injuries could have left her permanently paralyzed or even dead, within 10 months of her fall Vesna Vulovi was walking again. 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. Home Questions Celebrities How did Vesna Vulovic Survive the fall? [20], In the early 1990s, Vulovi and her husband divorced. Despite her willingness to resume work as a flight attendant, Jat Airways (JAT) gave her a desk job negotiating freight contracts, feeling her presence on flights would attract too much publicity. Can we learn from this to save more lives? This claim was debunked by flight data obtained from the aircrafts black boxes. See the comment above yours: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Alkemade :). The blame ultimately fell upon Croatian nationalists, who had been waging a campaign of violence in Yugoslavia, eventually carrying out more than 100 terrorist attacks during the 1960s and 1980s. The new passengers boarded and the flight eventually took off at 3:15 PM. The tail landed in a heavily wooded and snow-blanketed part of a mountainside, which was thought to have cushioned the impact. After checking out with the East German air traffic controllers on the border with Czechoslovakia, it should have been handed over to their Czech counterparts. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? ), Dangerous Aerobatics : C-17 crash at Elmendorf (2010). A Serbian woman who survived what was said to be a 10,000-metre (33,000ft) fall after a plane exploded in mid-air in 1972 has died aged 66. The Yugoslav authorities suspected that Croatian nationalists were to blame, but no one was ever arrested. And rightly, she is celebrated as being one of the most remarkable human beings that have ever lived, Glenday added. [3] According to Vulovi, she was not scheduled to be on Flight 367, and JAT had confused her for another flight attendant also named Vesna. Experts weigh in on this 'natural hair dye' to cover greys, prevent hair International Workers Day 2020: Wishes, Images, Quotes, Messages, Status, 'Curvy' mermaid statue causes stir in Southern Italy. Though she realized that JAT had confused her with another attendant named Vesna, she agreed to join anyway. [21] Guinness World Records continues to list her as the record-holder for surviving the highest fall without a parachute. Fear Reportedly, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and his East German counterpart Erich Honecker were also in the air at the same time, following a conference in Prague, which could have explained that the Czechoslovak air defenses were jumpy. Her story won her fame and a celebrity status in Serbia, which she channelled into political campaigning. Added January 2016 All rights reserved. Next, the fuselage separated from the rest of the plane and hurtled towards the ground in a heavily wooded area. Due to the massive fall, she suffered a fractured skull, two broken legs, three broken vertebrae, a fractured pelvis, several broken ribs and temporary paralysis below the waist. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, Vesna survived after the plane she was on plummeted 33,000ft after it was brought down by a terror bomb, She was trapped by a food cart in the planes tail when the bomb exploded. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. However, no one ever took credit for what was apparently a terrorist attack. Video, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, Explosion derails train in Russian border region, US rock band Aerosmith announce farewell tour, Trump mistrial request denied in NY rape lawsuit, Father tells how gunman opened fire on Texas home, Banana artwork in Seoul museum eaten by visitor, NFL player's daughter, aged two, drowns in pool, Heavy drinkers told to leave India police force. But she isnt. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. Vesna Vulovi (Yugoslavia, b. Both boxes were analyzed by specialists from Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and the Netherlands, who confirmed that the plane had truly fallen from the stated height of 33,333 ft (10,160 m). Incredibly, Vulovic was found alive, trapped by a food cart in either the center section or the tail section of the jet, depending on sources. Tommy Mardell, who took the above photograph and many more photographs, including more great portraits of Vulovi, contacted me about this post. Guinness World Records Kids (opens in a new window), GWR Merchandise Store (opens in a new window), Corporate Social Responsibility activities & fundraising ideas, Community engagement & tourism marketing activities. 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. The video added, At 4:01 pm, 46 minutes after take off, an explosion in the luggage compartment tore the aircraft into three pieces. While many other passengers were sucked out of the plane after the explosion, Vulovi became pinned by the cart. All rights reserved. Original routing for flight JU367 was BEG-CPH-STO(ARN)-BEG and that explains why Danmark is mentioned. Nobody ever expected me to live this long. However, she never regained any memory of the incident or her subsequent rescue. Following the horrific crash, Vesna fell into a coma for 10 days. 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. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. The story was so good and so beautiful that no one thought to ask any questions. The Yugoslav secret police also helped to uphold that version of the story, he said. No arrests were ever made. 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.. At 4:01 p.m., 46 minutes after take off, an explosion in the luggage compartment tore the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 aircraft into three pieces. The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards. She told interviewers that she was not scheduled to be on the flight that day but her schedule was mixed up with another stewardess named Vesna and she was pleased to take the chance to fly to Denmark. Vesna Vulovi: The Woman Who Fell From Heaven. 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. A song was even written about her, titled "Vesna stjuardesa" ("Vesna the Stewardess"), by Serbian-folk-singer Miroslav Ili. Fortunately, Bruno Honke, the villager who discovered her, had been a medic during World War II and was able to keep her alive until rescuers arrived. The explosion was determined to be from a briefcase bomb planted by the Ustae a Croatian separatist group seeking independence from Yugoslavia. ", "Too good to be true? Folk Figure. 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. The day after these events, Swedish newspaper Kvllsposten received a phone call from a self-described Croatian nationalist, who took credit for bringing down Flight 367. 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. Air crash sole survivors", "Kako je Vesna Vulovi preivela avionsku nesreu nad ehoslovakom '72: udo nije bila prava re", "Woman Who Fell to Earth: Was Air Crash Survivor's Record Just Propaganda? One part of my body with my leg was in the plane and my head was out of the plane. However, her dream almost didnt come true. They claimed that the very thing that almost kept Vulovi from being a flight attendant is what ultimately saved her life. 50 years on, this remains the highest fall survived without a parachute ever. [3] Vulovi's hospitalization lasted until June 1972, after which she travelled to Montenegro to recuperate at a seaside resort, where her doctors visited her every two or three days. Vesna Vulovic, a flight attendant for JAT Yugoslav Airlines in 1972, set a Guinness world record when she fell some 33,000 feet and lived.Vulovic's odds-defying plunge, which happened following an explosion of the DC-9 she was flying in, is one of the most remarkable accident-survival stories of all time, and made her a national hero in Yugoslavia. Most prominent one is a German teenager Juliane Koepcke who survived a 3,000-metre (9,800 ft) fall after her flight broke up over the Peruvian Amazon in 1971. All of the other 27 passengers and crew on board died. Vesna Vulovi was a Serbian World record-holding flight attendant. All 27 other passengers and crew. We pay forvideostoo. Vesna Vulovic in a photo distributed to the press by JAT Airways in the early 1970s. The plane was flying from Stockholm in Sweden to Belgrade in Serbia with two stopovers one being in Copenhagen. A young Vesna Vulovi in her flight attendant uniform. The JAT Flight 367 was bound from Stockholm to Belgrade through Copenhagen and Zagreb. Glenday explained that the fuselage itself would have smashed because of the bomb breaking it into bits, and people blew out of the plane. However, she ultimately made a near-full recovery and went back to work with JAT in a desk job. He told me that he took the photograph in 1972 at Belgrade airport. Credit: Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. I didnt know about this one. [3], The secondary crew of JAT Flight 367, flying from Stockholm to Belgrade with stopovers in Copenhagen and Zagreb, arrived in Denmark on the morning of 25 January 1972. I think it was the man who put the bomb in the baggage. [6] She received the recognition at a London gala from musician Paul McCartney. Vesna Vulovic, a flight attendant who alone, and miraculously, survived the midair explosion of a jetliner over Czechoslovakia in 1972 after plummeting thousands of feet onto a snowy hill,. Air Safety investigators explained she survived because she got trapped by a food cart. Ju flights to Danmark were either 36x or 37x and for Sweden 38x [1] Her reputation as a "Cold War heroine" also extended to the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries. Later, her doctors revealed that her low blood pressure caused her to quickly pass out when the cabin depressurised and that prevented her heart from bursting upon impact. Please enter your email address. 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. ", Fighter jets are roaring over my home in Sudan, Russia launches missile attacks on Ukraine, MasterChef Australia host Jock Zonfrillo dies. By: Lifestyle Desk Just purchased! [4], Vulovi's parents both died within a few years of the crash. She suffered a fractured skull, two crushed vertebrae, and had broken her pelvis, ribs, and both legs. No. [3][d] She attributed the divorce to her chain smoking, which her husband disapproved of. freefall? I have fallen tens of thousands of feet dozens of times without any injury whatsoever. Brad's fall was also broken by his instructor, who he was strapped to and who also survived. Departing Copenhagen in the afternoon, the DC-9 was flying on a busy route. However, many conspiracy theorists have claimed that the aircraft was flying at a much lower altitude than stated in the official accident report. The 22-year old Serbian flight attendant Vesna Vulovic was part of the secondary cabin crew who boarded the airplane in Copenhagen, where the flight made a brief stopover en route to Belgrade. Although he was hospitalised and left unable to move for a while, he was considered incredibly lucky to be alive by most. 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. Vesna Vulovi was no ordinary woman, however, and she went to her grave some 44 years after she survived the highest fall without a parachute. Clever. Vesna and her friends grew up in Yugoslavia listening to The Beatles so this was an extra special moment for her. 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. She broke almost every bone in her body and she was paralysed temporarily. Unsubscribe at any time. The fuselage tumbled through pine branches and into a thick coating of snow, softening the impact and cushioning its descent down the hill, crash investigators said at the time. But heres the oddity that caught my eye. [13] "Nobody ever expected me to live this long," she recounted in 2008. While investigators suspect the bomb had been planted in the plane during a stopover in Copenhagen, Denmark, nothing was ever proven and no arrests were ever made. But Vulovic was not supposed to be on the doomed flight. The article cited a military expert who argued that there where 150-200 people involved in the investigation and it would be impossible to cover up such an event. This is the incredible story of the woman who fell 33,333 feet and survived pic.twitter.com/1Bpdi2SVi0, Guinness World Records (@GWR) November 6, 2022, Over Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic, the plane was blown apart. In 1972, Vesna Vulovic, a cabin attendant, survived a 10,160m fall when the DC-9 she was in exploded over what is now the Czech Republic. On the day of the crash, Vesna boarded JAT Yugoslav Airlines Flight 367 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Reminded me of the British airman who fell out a Lancaster at 18,000 feet and survived. An airplane that is still intact usually only achieves this in a parabolic flight, during aerobatics, and maybe you can say its free falling when you put it into a stall during training. [4] Vulovi was the only survivor of the 28 passengers and crew. She remained an avid flyer and died in 2016 at the age of 66. As fate would have it, Vesna was not actually scheduled to be working on Flight 367, as she revealed in a 2002 interview with Green Light. Talking about the same, Craig Glenday, Editor and Chief, Guinness World Records said, Vesna Vulovis story, for me, is one of the most incredible survival stories if, in fact, not the most impressive that we have here at Guinness World Records. [1][2] She was discovered by villager Bruno Honke, who heard her screaming amid the wreckage. [6] [1] It is extremely probable that the aircraft was shot down by mistake by the Czechoslovak air force and in order to cover it up the secret police conceived the record plunge, Hornung said. The rest of the 28 crew and passengers flew to their deaths when the cabin depressurized but she was trapped by the food cart. She was, he said, offered a million dollar contract for a Hollywood movie and many other offers to sell her story, but she said no to all of them. [13], In the last years of her life, Vulovi lived on a pension of 300 per month in her Belgrade apartment. - Quora Answer (1 of 13): A person has a terminal velocity. On January 26, 1972, Vulovic was working aboard DC-9-32 YU-AHT, flying between Stockholm and Belgrade as JAT Yugoslav Airlines Flight 367, with scheduled stopovers in Copenhagen and Zagreb. But despite her incredible survival, she never considered herself lucky. On the 26th of January 1972, Vesna Vulovi was a flight attendant onboard JAT Yugoslav Airlines Flight 367. Thank you for the link! I won't send you spam. [4] Honke had been a medic during the Second World War and was able to keep Vulovi alive until rescuers arrived. She was 66. I was broken, and the doctors put me back together again, she told the New York Times in 2008. Vulovi wished to go sightseeing but her colleagues insisted that they go shopping. According to the official accident report, she had fallen 33,330 feet or 6.31 miles to the ground. A catering trolley was pinned against my spine and kept me in the plane.". 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. She was the sole survivor after a briefcase bomb exploded in the baggage compartment of JAT Flight 367 on 26 January 1972, causing it to crash near Srbsk Kamenice, Czechoslovakia. What are the physics involved? "I was found with my head down and my colleague on top of me. The explosion and crash killed everyone on board. 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. Miracle woman who survived '33,000ft fall', "Sestelen jugoslvskho letadla echy by se neutajilo, mn pamtnk od radaru", "Remembering Vesna Vulovi, flight attendant who survived 10,000-metre fall from plane", "Stewardesse overlevede fald p 10.000 meter", "Sahranjena legendarna stjuardesa koja je preivela pad sa 10 hiljada metara", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vesna_Vulovi&oldid=1151646084, This page was last edited on 25 April 2023, at 09:36. The cause was explosion of an explosive, which was enveloped in an ignition charge. The low blood pressure meant she passed out when the cabin depressurized and was later able to make a full recovery. I think it was the man who put the bomb in the baggage. I'm excited and thanks for the discount. It was there that I met up with a friend who suggested we go to Stockholm. Wow. Vesna was found by a farmer who managed to keep her alive until the rescuers arrival. [3][16] She only occasionally granted interviews and declined numerous requests, most notably from Oprah Winfrey and the BBC,[24] saying that she was "tired" of discussing her fall. I like it. Clickheretouploadyours, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. Somehow Brad miraculously survived the terrifying plunge after making a relatively soft landing in a lake at a golf club. [5] The explosion caused the aircraft to break apart over the Czechoslovak village of SrbskKamenice. [18] Vulovi continued to fly regularly, stating that other passengers were surprised to see her on flights and wanted to sit next to her. She was the sole survivor. I soon discovered that the record was taken off the books in 2009, when a representative of Guinness World Records said, It seems that at the time Guinness was duped by this swindle just like the rest of the media. Where was the outcry then? I think he had checked in a bag in Stockholm, got off in Copenhagen and never re-boarded the flight. At first, she could only move her left leg, and one month thereafter, she was able to move her right. That said, a plane thats landing isnt falling, because free fall implies 9.8 m/s/s acceleration. [26] She was buried in Belgrade's New Cemetery on 27 December. [19] Around the same time,[e] Vulovi was fired from JAT for speaking out against Serbian statesman Slobodan Miloevi and taking part in anti-government protests. [4] By the time she had reached her sixties, Vulovi's deteriorating health prevented her from taking part in annual commemorations at Srbsk Kamenice, which she had previously attended for many years. But involvement in the affairs of the post-Yugoslavian state was not always easy. Well then by your logic this blog post doesnt belong on this blog. She was 66. In the morning, during breakfast, the co-pilot was talking about his son and daughter as if nobody else had a son or daughter. The last thing I remember is boarding the plane by the rear door and seeing a few women cleaning the plane.. While many other passengers were sucked out of the plane after the explosion, Vulovi became pinned by the cart.