Vesna Vulovi in 1972. Vesna Vulovic, a Serbian woman who in 1972 survived a reported six-mile fall after the plane she was on exploded over Czechoslovakia, died last week at age 66, according to several media reports. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic) (The Associated Press). The length of time that Vulovi was comatose is the subject of considerable contradiction, with different sources indicating three days, A 2005 newspaper article published by the Croatian. FILE-In this Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 file photo, Vesna Vulovic, an ex-air stewardess, and survivor of a fall from 10,000 meters when in 1972 her plane was blown up in mid-fight by a bomb, gestures as she gives an interview to the Associated Press in Belgrade, Serbia. He fell 18,000 feet (5500 m) to the ground below. All 27 other passengers and crew aboard perished. Anyone can read what you share. Vulovi underwent several operations to restore her movement. Trapped in the planes tail cone, she plummeted to earth in sub-freezing temperatures and landed on a steep, heavily wooded slope near a village. The guards changed shifts every six hours, and no one was allowed in to see her except for her parents and doctors. FILE-In this Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 file photo, Vesna Vulovic, an ex-air stewardess, and survivor of a fall from 10,000 meters when in 1972 her plane was blown up in mid-fight by a bomb, gestures as she gives an interview to the Associated Press in Belgrade, Serbia. She was 66. Market data provided by Factset. She was honored by Josip Tito, Yugoslavias Communist leader, and celebrated as a national hero. She was fired from her job at the airline in 1990 after taking part in protests against President Slobodan Milosevic but avoided arrest. Initially paralyzed from the waist down, Vulovic eventually made a near-full recovery and even returned to work for the airline in a desk job. [19] In 1977,[c] she married mechanical engineer Nikola Breka after a year of dating. But an investigation by two reporters in Prague in 2009 challenged that account. Serbias state TV said Saturday that Ms. Vulovic was found dead by her friends in her apartment in Belgrade. 1 reference. December 24, 2016, 2:49 AM BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) Vesna Vulovic, a Serbian stewardess who miraculously survived a plunge from 10,000 meters (33,000 feet) after her plane exploded in mid-air in. "[3], Flight 367 departed from Copenhagen Airport at 3:15p.m. At 4:01p.m., an explosion tore through the DC-9's baggage compartment. A verification email has been sent to you. Vulovic was working as a Yugoslav Airlines flight attendant on Jan. 26, 1972, when the Douglas DC-9 airliner she was aboard blew up high above the snowy mountain ranges of Czechoslovakia. GET IN TOUCH WITH A RECORD SPECIALIST (Opens in a new window), Rumeysa Gelgi, tallest woman living, breaks three new records, Love is in the air as highest speed dating event record is set on board jet plane. The best indicator is the annual horoscope. An hour into the flight, the plane, a DC-9, blew up over the Czech village of Srbska Kamenice. 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, Canadian confirmed as tallest teenager in the world, How to set or break a Guinness World Records title. Following the bombing, Vulovi spent days in a coma and was hospitalised for several months. On 26 january 1972 an explosion on JAT Flight 367 (Jugoslavenski Aerotransport) caused the plane to break apart. YouTubeVesna Vulovi continued to fly until her death in 2016. When was the accident bound to have happened? Ms. Vulovic disagreed that luck played any part in helping her to survive the 33,000-foot fall. She was offered a hypnotic injection to help her sleep during the flight back to Yugoslavia, but declined, explaining that she was not afraid of flying because she had no memory of the crash. The crew had the entire afternoon and the following morning to themselves. These injuries resulted in her being temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. Show more Show. Vulovic entered the Guinness Book of Records in 1985 for "the highest fall survived without a parachute.". Upon returning to Belgrade, Vulovi decided to become a flight attendant after seeing one of her friends in a flight attendant's uniform. Read about our approach to external linking. He didn't want to go out at all. One man seemed terribly annoyed. She never regained memory of the accident or her rescue. Vesna Vulovic, Serbian stewardess who survived plane explosion & 10,000 meter . During an interview in 2008 that she could only recall greeting passengers before takeoff from the airport in Denmarkand then waking up in the hospital with her mother at her side. [13][23] Vulovi said that she was aware of the journalists' claims, but stated that because she had no memory of the event, she could not confirm or deny the allegations. Both of her legs had been broken along with three vertebrae, multiple ribs and a fractured pelvis. She had no memory of the incident and had no qualms about flying in the aftermath of the crash. She eventually made a full recovery but never regained memory of the incident, as she explained in a 2002 interview with Green Light Limited. She never regained any memory of the accident or of her rescue, she said, and she continued to fly as a passenger. Vulovic was rescued by Bruno Honke, a woodsman who heard her screaming in the dark while the debris came down around them. However, her cause of death is unknown at this time. The cause of death was not immediately known. She was rushed to a hospital, where she fell into a coma for 10 days. Trapped in the planes tail cone, she plummeted to earth in subfreezing temperatures and landed on a steep, heavily wooded slope near a village. She remained an avid flyer and died in 2016 at the age of 66. languages spoken, written or signed. Her Plane Exploded 33,000 Feet In The Air And Somehow Vesna Vulovi Survived The Fall. Investigators believed that the fuselage, with Vulovi pinned inside, landed at an angle in a heavily wooded and snow-covered mountainside, which cushioned the impact. Ms. Vulovic entered the Guinness Book of Records in 1985 for the highest fall survived without a parachute.. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, 'Cautious' Duke 'was careful not to attack members of the Royal family' says Royal watcher amid fears he could be left out of King's crowning in May - as he FAILS to mention his brother, Kate or Camilla at all in 90-minute chat about toxic childhood trauma, 'I am your retribution': Trump blasts 'China-loving' Mitch McConnell, Republican 'freaks' and 'neocons' in wild CPAC speech as he declares he'll prevent World War III, Married father-of-two hedge fund manager sues NYC therapist-turned-lover for allegedly 'seducing' him into office romps and convincing him he was 'trapped' in his marriage - while charging $250K in 'mistress money', America's best city for singles - with the most unattached women per capita and 55.4% of residents unmarried: 'You don't have to put in much effort', 'A strong black woman runs this b***h now': Staten Island superintendent claims text messages appearing to show her vowing to sack white principals amid push to hire more BIPOC staff are fake, Revealed: The winners and losers in the great Royal property merry-go-round - as it emerges Prince Andrew could pocket 1.5m windfall if he quits the Royal Lodge this year, This is the dating mistake you need to quit right now, writes JANA HOCKING, who says she thought everyone was aware of the 'shocking' rule by now: 'It's not cheating, get with the times', Buster Murdaugh breaks cover to walk his dogs with girlfriend Brooklyn just one day after his father was given a life sentence for brutally executing his wife Maggie and youngest son Paul, Five unexpected signs in your 20s and 30s you're at risk of developing heart disease later in life, Regular exercise improves memory in old age even if taken up in 50s and 60s, research shows - as trials into whether keeping fit can delay dementia, Massive gas tanker crashes in Maryland and EXPLODES into fireball killing the driver and setting local residents' homes ablaze as large plumes of black smoke and embers billow from crash site, 'I don't consider myself a celebrity': Trump sidesteps Mike Pompeo after former secretary of state warned CPAC audience not to follow 'celebrity leaders' with 'fragile egos', Trump again wins CPAC Straw Poll - getting 62 percent to DeSantis' 20 with election denier Kari Lake voted attendees favorite VP pick, King Charles will offer Prince Harry and Meghan a Buckingham Palace apartment when they visit UK after kicking them out of Frogmore Cottage, 'Hallucinogens have helped me to clean the windscreen of my troubled mind': Prince Harry extols the use of Class A drug in cosy online chat with 'toxic trauma therapist' Gabor Mat, 'Once you sign up, you do what you're told': Duke of Sussex tells trauma expert Gabor Mat 'a lot of us' in the Army 'didn't necessarily agree or disagree' with the West's invasion of Afghanistan but did 'what you're trained to do', 'He's completely beige drained of all his feisty ginger life-blood': JULIE BURCHILL'S verdict on Prince Harry's 'intimate conversation' with trauma therapist Gabor Mate, Prince Harry interview RECAP: Duke of Sussex fans say his Q&A with Gabor Mate 'should have been longer' after he discussed grief, healing and his Royal upbringing with trauma expert. People Most Convinced They're Always Right About Politics Overrate Their Knowledge The Most, The Seven Unbelievable Survival Stories Of Frane Selak, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. Air safety investigators attributed the explosion to a briefcase bomb. THIRTY-SIX years ago, Vesna Vulovic plummeted 33,300 feet in temperatures of 60 degrees below zero after an explosion ripped apart the DC-9 Yugoslav Airlines plane on which she was working as a. She said in 2008 that she could only recall greeting passengers before takeoff from the airport in Denmark and then waking up in the hospital with her mother at her side. [7] Vulovi said that she was aware of her low blood pressure before applying to become a flight attendant and knew that it would result in her failing her medical examination, but she drank an excessive amount of coffee beforehand and was accepted. She had wanted her old job back and disagreed with the airline that she was not healthy enough to resume it. She was a Serbian flight attendant, who came hurtling down towards the earth from 33,000 feet above and still survived the deadly fall. Vulovic was rescued by a woodsman who followed her screams in the dark forest. However, her cause of death is unknown at this time. 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. In Yugoslavia she was celebrated as a national hero. 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. "I was found with my head down and my colleague on top of me. They seemed to know that they would die. She suffered a skull fracture and broke her legs. An instant national heroine, she went on to put her celebrity at the service of political causes, protesting Slobodan Milosevics rule in the 1990s and later campaigning for liberal forces in elections. She was 66. [5] "As it was late, we were in the terminal and saw it park," Vulovi said. She had a fractured skull, two crushed vertebrae and a broken pelvis, ribs and legs. As for people who have described her as lucky, Vulovic said they are mistaken. Serbian-born Vesna Vulovi was 22 years old and had been a flight attendant for only eight months before the fateful crash. Her turquoise uniform was covered in blood and her stiletto heels had been torn off by the force of the impact. [4] "Whenever I think of the accident, I have a prevailing, grave feeling of guilt for surviving it and I cry Then I think maybe I should not have survived at all. She seems not to have lived the life of a celebrity at all and to have kept mostly to herself, Eric Gordy, a cultural and political sociologist at University College London who studies the former Yugoslavia, said in a phone interview. Just 46 minutes into the fight, disaster struck. The accident ruined their lives too., First published on December 24, 2016 / 7:59 AM. Vesna Vulovic. Ms. Vulovic, who had been divorced, was living on a small pension, with three cats, at her death. The small section she was in fell to the ground on a heavily wooded, snow-covered hillside. Vesna Vulovi recovering in the hospital. A song was even written about her, titled "Vesna stjuardesa" ("Vesna the Stewardess"), by Serbian-folk-singer Miroslav Ili. The cause of death was not immediately known. [4] Vulovi attributed her recovery to her "Serbian stubbornness" and "a childhood diet that included chocolate, spinach, and fish oil". The cause of death was not immediately known. Vesna Vulovic, a Serbian flight attendant who survived a 10,000-meter plunge after her plane exploded mid-air in 1972, has died at the age of 66. . The Guinness Book of World Records says the plunge was from a height of 33,000 feet, the longest recorded fall without a parachute. She joined JAT, the national flag carrier and dominant airline of Yugoslavia, in 1971. [15] Within ten months of her fall, Vulovi had regained the ability to walk, but limped for the rest of her life, her spine permanently twisted. online interview with Green Light Limited. Filip Horvat for The International Herald Tribune. While other passengers were reportedly sucked out of the plane by the change in air pressure, Vesna found herself jammed in place by the food cart, trapped in the plane's broken fuselage as it hurtled 33,333 feet to the ground. She was in the rear of the plane with a food cart when the fuselage broke apart. 50 years on, this remains the highest fall survived without a parachute ever. It was suspected that a bomb was planted inside the jet during a scheduled stopover in Copenhagen, Denmark, but no arrests were ever made. Vulovi became a celebrity in Yugoslavia and was deemed a national hero. All 28 passengers and crew aboard perished, apart fromVulovic, who would enter the Guinness Book of Records for 'the highest fall survived without a parachute'. Maybe I was born in the wrong place. She was trapped in the cone of the tail and landed on a slope after plunging 10,160m from the DC-9 aircraft. BELGRADE, Serbia Vesna Vulovic, a Serbian stewardess who miraculously survived a plunge from 33,000 feet after her plane exploded in midair in 1972, has died. A catering trolley was pinned against my spine and kept me in the plane.". [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. The wreckage of the JAT Flight 367 crash. Ms. Vulovic was working as a Yugoslav Airlines flight attendant on Jan. 26, 1972, when the DC-9 airliner she was aboard blew up high above the snowy . She was 66. And the captain was locked in his room for 24 hours. She suffered a fractured skull, three broken vertebrae, broken legs, broken ribs, and a fractured pelvis. Authorities confirmed the "miracle" woman was found dead in her Belgrade, Serbia, home. 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. I think he had checked in a bag in Stockholm, got off in Copenhagen and never re-boarded the flight. [17] After the crash, Vulovi received a decoration from Yugoslav President Josip Tito, and the Serbian folk singer Miroslav Ili recorded a song titled "Vesna stjuardesa" ("Vesna the Stewardess"). Vesna Vulovic was found dead by her friends in her apartment in Belgrade, according to Serbian state TV. To her delight, it worked, and she was allowed into the flight attendant training program. On January 1972, Vesna Vulovic, who was working as a flight attendant for Jugoslavenski Aerotransport, was… Continue reading Vesna Vulovic: Flight Attendant Who . Mind-bending optical illusion that makes your brain IMAGINE a color that doesn't exist leaves the internet baffled, Kellyanne Conway's soon-to-be ex-husband George looks despondent without his wedding ring after couple announced they are divorcing, New heartbreak for Liz Hurley, 57, as third former partner dies: Actor Tom Sizemore, 61, suffers fatal brain aneurysm a year after her ex-fiance Shane Warne's death from a heart attack at 52 - while father to her son Damian lost his life to suicide in 2020, All 28 aboard died apart from Vulovic, who would break record for highest fall. "But if nationalist forces in this country prevail, my heart will burst. Vesna Vulovic in her later years (via Twitter) According to another account, on this specific airliner, a terrorist cell known as Ustashe had planted a strong device. She recalled that she should not have been there; another flight attendant, also named Vesna, was supposed to be on the roster. He managed to escape with a broken arm, minor scratches and bruises. [10] No arrests were ever made. Back in 1972, the former stewardess survived a 10,160-meter fall from a plane that exploded midair. The cause of death was not immediately known. YouTubeVesna Vulovi recovering in the hospital. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. A bomb, which may . Putting names to archive photos, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, In photos: India's disappearing single-screen cinemas. The spectacular survival story won Vulovic celebrity status in Serbia, where she channelled her fame into campaigning for political causes. According to the official accident report, an explosion tore the DC-9 she was working . [1] She was soon made an honorary citizen of Srbsk Kamenice. The theory has also been dismissed by the Civilian Aviation Authority and Czech army experts. Everyone except Vesna, who survived a fall of 33,333 feet (10,160 metres; 6.31 miles). "Everybody wanted to buy something for his or her family," she recalled. She decided to become a flight attendant, she said, when she saw a friend in her Yugoslav Airlines uniform and thought, Why shouldnt I be an air hostess?. Sole crash survivors: Children and crew stand out. Vulovis doctors concurred with the air investigators and added their own conclusions. She had total amnesia from the hour preceding her fall until one month afterwards. Some sources suggest that Vulovi's employment was terminated in 1990. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Speaking of . "She looked so nice and had just been to London for the day," Vulovi recalled. Vesna Vulovi was found dead by her friends in her. She was rushed to a hospital, where she fell into a coma for 10 days. [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. [2] Driven by her love of the Beatles, Vulovi travelled to the United Kingdom after completing her first year of university, hoping to improve her English-language skills. She was the sole survivor after an explosion tore through the baggage compartment of JAT Flight 367 on 26 January 1972, causing it to crash near Srbsk Kamenice, Czechoslovakia. place of burial. "If you can survive what I survived," she said, "you can survive anything. 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=1142131761, Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing Serbian-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 17:58. In 1985 Vulovi entered the Guinness Book of Records for the highest fall survived without a parachute. Amid the wreckage was a woman wearing a bloodstained turquoise flight attendants uniform and no shoes. While even short drops can be lethal, people have survived horrendous falls. Thu 20 May 2004 07.21 EDT. After traveling to London to learn English, she realized her love of traveling. Belgrade. She now holds the Guinness world record for highest freefall without a parachute. 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. . 31M subscribers in the todayilearned community. Officials suspected that JAT Yugoslav Flight 364 was brought down by explosives planted in a suitcase by a Croatian terrorist group. Im not lucky, she told Green Light. An air stewardess who miraculously survived a plunge from 33,000 feet after her plane exploded in mid-air has died at the age of 66. Ne propustite. I was talking to them and asking them why they were with me in Slovenia. Ukraine matters, but so did Bosnia 30 years ago. She stated that her ordeal had turned her into an optimist. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. According to Serbian state TV, she was found by her friends in her apartmen I thought I was in Slovenia, as I had just visited Ljubljana the capital city before going to Copenhagen., In less than a year, she recovered well enough to walk, but with a limp. Other crew members saw him, as did the station manager in Copenhagen. Miroslav Ilic, a Serbian folk singer, recorded the song Vesna the Stewardess in her honor. How She Stared Down Death: Except for surviving countless ass gropings during her time as a stewardess there was really nothing special about this lady. [4], Vulovi told reporters that she did not think of her fall every day, but admitted to struggling with survivor's guilt. Vesna Vulovi (2008) The cause of Flight 367's 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). In 2008, Ms. Vulovic campaigned for the Democratic Party of President Boris Tadic. At 4:01 PM, there was an explosion in the baggage compartment. [4] Honke had been a medic during the Second World War and was able to keep Vulovi alive until rescuers arrived. From the hour preceding the crash until almost a month afterward, Vulovi had no idea what had happened. The cause of death was not immediately known. [18] Vulovi continued to fly regularly, stating that other passengers were surprised to see her on flights and wanted to sit next to her.

Deities Associated With Tarot Cards Minor Arcana, University Of Arizona Gymnastics Camp 2022, Articles V