Flight Attendant Miraculously Survived 33,000ft Fall Without Parachute After Mid-Air Plane Explosion

By maks in Travel On 5th November 2024
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A flight attendant made headlines around the world when she survived a 33,000ft fall without a parachute, earning a Guinness World Record after her plane exploded mid-flight.

Some stories behind world records are hard to believe, but Vesna Vulović's journey to claiming hers is sure to leave anyone stunned.

On 26 January 1972, Vesna boarded JAT Yugoslav Airlines Flight 367 from Copenhagen, Denmark, with a destination of Belgrade, Serbia.

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At only 23 years old, Vesna was not even supposed to be on the flight that would later fall from the sky.

A mix-up by the airline mistakenly assigned her to the flight instead of another crew member with the same name.

The JAT Yugoslav Airlines aircraft exploded over Srbska Kamenice, a village that was then part of Czechoslovakia.

Many passengers were reportedly thrown from the plane due to the sudden change in air pressure, resulting in instant fatalities.

Vesna miraculously survived Wikipedia Commons
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Meanwhile, Vesna ended up pinned by the food cart, trapped within the shattered fuselage as it plunged towards the earth.

The wreckage hit a forested area covered in deep snow, which played a crucial role in cushioning her fall and ultimately saving her life.

She has no memory of what happened during the incident.

The fall left Vesna with severe injuries, including a fractured skull, broken vertebrae, broken legs, multiple broken ribs, and a fractured pelvis. Yet, she managed to survive.

Bruno Honke, a former World War Two medic, discovered Vesna screaming among the wreckage and provided essential first aid that kept her alive.

She slipped into a coma for several days and had no recollection of anything from an hour before the crash to a month afterward.

Talking to Green Light, Vesna said: "The first thing I remember is seeing my parents in the hospital. I was talking to them asking them why they were with me in Slovenia. I thought I was in Slovenia because I was just in Ljubljana before going to Copenhagen."

A Yugoslav Airlines aircraft Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

Vesna was temporarily paralyzed from the waist down but, remarkably, she regained the ability to walk after 10 months of recovery.

The crash was believed to have been caused by a bomb hidden in a suitcase that detonated in the luggage compartment.

Although the Croatian terrorist group, the Ustashe, was suspected to be responsible, no arrests were ever made related to the incident.

Out of 28 passengers and crew members, Vesna was the only survivor of the crash.

Her astonishing survival from a height of over six miles earned her a Guinness World Record for the highest fall survived without a parachute.

Vesna passed away in 2016 at the age of 66. 

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When asked whether she considered herself lucky to have survived such a fall, she said: "If I were lucky, I would never had this accident, and my mother and father would be alive."

"The accident ruined their lives, too. Maybe I was born in the wrong place. Maybe it was a bad place."