Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. According to the official accident report, an explosion tore the DC-9 she was working . Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. She now holds the Guinness world record for highest freefall without a parachute. "[4][16], In 2009, Peter Hornung-Andersen and Pavel Theiner, two Prague-based journalists, claimed that Flight 367 had been mistaken for an enemy aircraft and shot down by the Czechoslovak Air Force at an altitude of 800 metres (2,600ft), far lower than the official altitude of 10,160 metres (33,330ft). Additionally, Vesnas physicians determined that her low blood pressure caused her to quickly pass out when the cabin depressurized, which prevented her heart from bursting upon impact. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. [3] JAT felt that her presence on flights would attract too much publicity and instead gave her a desk job negotiating freight contracts. "If you can survive what I survived," she said, "you can survive anything. 23 December 2016. All 28 passengers and crew aboard perished, apart from Vulovic (left), who would enter the Guinness Book of Records for her fall (pictured right with David Frost). Trees broke the fall of the fuselage section and snow on the hill cushioned its landing. Where was the outcry then? When she found out a friend was becoming a flight attendant and traveling the world, she jumped at the chance. 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. 1 Vesna Vulovic: The Stewardess Who Survived a terrorist attack at 33,000 feet. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. After traveling to London to learn English, she realized her love of traveling. On the evening of January 26, 1972, Bruno Honke heard screaming coming from a hillside just outside of his village in Czechoslovakia. Vulovi made an almost complete recovery but continued to walk with a limp. Other crew members saw him, as did the station manager in Copenhagen. The cause of death was not immediately known. She eventually made a full recovery but never regained memory of the incident, as she explained in a 2002 interview with Green Light Limited. [1] Vulovi's friends said that she had struggled with heart ailments in the years leading up to her death. 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. Vulovic entered the Guinness Book of Records in 1985 for "the highest fall survived without a parachute.". 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. If I were lucky I would never had this accident and my mother and father would be alive. ( , 3. 1950 23. 2016 [1]) 10.160 . 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. A bomb, which may . At first, she could only move her left leg, and one month thereafter, she was able to move her right. Vesna Vulovic was a stewardess back in the '70s working on a Serbian airline. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. In January 1972 she was working as a flight attendant a Yugoslav Airlines DC-9 plane when it blew up over the snowy mountain ranges of what was then Czechoslovakia. What science tells us about the afterlife. Initially paralyzed from the waist down, Ms. Vulovic eventually made a near-full recovery and even returned to work for the airline in a desk job. Air safety investigators believe that Vulovis position within the aircraft at the time of the explosion helped her survive the fall. Vulovic was 23 and working as a Yugoslav Airlines hostess on 26 January, 1972, when the Douglas DC-9 airliner she was aboard blew up high above the snowy mountain ranges of Czechoslovakia. She had been working for the airline for only eight months when the accident occurred. Miloevi was later tried at The Hague for crimes against humanity. 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. 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. [4] "I don't know what to say when people say I was lucky," she remarked. 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. To her delight, it worked, and she was allowed into the flight attendant training program. According to Guinness World Records, 30 years after the crash, Vulovic said: Im not lucky. / CBS/AP. 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. Ms. Vulovic was rescued by a woodsman who followed her screams in the dark forest. Air safety investigators believe that Vulovi's position within the aircraft at the time of the explosion helped her survive the fall. However, her cause of death is unknown at this time. The fuselage tumbled through pine branches and into a thick coating of snow, softening the impact and cushioning its descent down the hill. Regardless of the scenario, Vulovic survived the ordeal, despite suffering a crushed skull, snapped legs and three broken vertebrae. Ms. Vulovic returned to work at Yugoslav Airlines later in 1972, but to an office job in which she negotiated freight contracts, not as a flight attendant. Market data provided by Factset. 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. Everybody thinks I am lucky, but they are mistaken. As for people who have described her as lucky, Vulovic said they are mistaken. The cause of death was not immediately known. "But if nationalist forces in this country prevail, my heart will burst. "[21] Vulovi lamented that her mother and father might not have died prematurely had she not been aboard Flight 367, stating that the incident not only ruined her life, but also those of her parents. Serbias state TV said Saturday Vulovic was found dead by her friends in her apartment in Belgrade. In Belgrade, Vulovi's hospital room was placed under 24-hour police protection because authorities feared that the perpetrators of the bombing would wish to kill her. JAT Flight 367 had two scheduled stopovers in between Stockholm and Belgrade. Of the 28 passengers and crew, Vesna Vulovi was the only survivor. YouTubeVesna Vulovi recovering in the hospital. 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). Vulovic was the only survivor of the 26 January, 1972 bomb blast over the Czech town of Srbska Kamenice which killed 23 passengers and five crew. Vesna Vulovi was found dead by her friends in her. [26] She was buried in Belgrade's New Cemetery on 27 December.[27]. Initially paralysed from the waist down, Vulovi eventually made almost a full recovery and even returned to work for the airline in a desk job. The explosion and crash killed everyone on board. [4] Honke had been a medic during the Second World War and was able to keep Vulovi alive until rescuers arrived. 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. Vesna Vulovic, Serbian stewardess who survived plane explosion & 10,000 meter . Vulovic was 23 and working as a Yugoslav. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. She told the AP in an interview 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. Everyone except Vesna, who survived a fall of 33,333 feet (10,160 metres; 6.31 miles). The two claimed that the Czechoslovak State Security had conjured up Vulovi's record fall as part of a cover-up. [4][16], In September 1972, Vulovi expressed willingness to resume working as a flight attendant. After recovering from her injuries, Vesna continued working for JAT Airlines in a desk-based role, but she was fired in the early 1990s for participating in anti-government protests opposing Slobodan Miloevi, president of Serbia within Yugoslavia at the time. ", China looks at reforms to deepen Xi's control, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Inside the enclave surrounded by pro-Russia forces, 'The nurses wanted me to feel guilty about my abortion, From Afghan TV fame to a US factory floor. Putting names to archive photos, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, In photos: India's disappearing single-screen cinemas. Vesna Vulovi (Abjad Kiril Serbia: ; diucapkan [esna ulit]; 3 Januari 1950 - 23 Desember 2016) adalah seorang pramugari asal Serbia.Ia memecahkan rekor dunia Guinness karena berhasil selamat dari terjun tanpa parasut dengan ketinggian 10.160 meter. 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. El avin sufri una explosin en su parte delantera que provoc que se partiese en dos y se precipitase desde una altura de 10.000 metros sobre una ladera nevada de Kamenice, en la actual . Trapped in the planes tail cone, she plummeted to earth in subfreezing temperatures and landed on a steep, heavily wooded slope near a village. "People always want to sit next to me on the plane," she said. All rights reserved. She had a fractured skull, two crushed vertebrae and a broken pelvis, ribs and legs. [25], In December 2016, Vulovi's friends became concerned for her well-being after she abruptly stopped answering telephone calls. Ne propustite. 2023 BBC. Vesna Vulovi (Yugoslavia, b. Ms. Vulovic, who had been divorced, was living on a small pension, with three cats, at her death. Vesna Vulovi was found dead by her friends in her apartment in Belgrade, Serbian state television reported. Maybe it was a bad place., Vesna Vulovic, Flight Attendant Who Survived Jetliner Blast, Dies at 66, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/28/world/europe/vesna-vulovic-died-flight-attendant-in-plunge.html. (The Associated Press) She beat the odds by surviving a 10,000-metre (33,000 feet) fall from a plane, and became a national hero in Serbia because of it. "[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. 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. Vesna Vulovic died in Belgrade in December 2016, at the age of 66. The DC-9 broke up midflight at 33,000 feet (10,160 metres) and crashed into a wooded area in Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). online interview with Green Light Limited. 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. [4][20] In response to her activism, pro-Miloevi tabloids launched a smear campaign against her, claiming that Flight 367 had been shot down by a Czechoslovak surface-to-air missile and that she had fallen from a lesser height than previously believed. Filip Horvat for The International Herald Tribune. They seemed to know that they would die. Anyone can read what you share. The Douglas DC-9 went down on January 26 that year over the mountains . No sufficient evidence against the official crash report exists for Vesna's record to be disqualified. The accident ruined their lives, too. Vulovic entered the Guinness Book of Records in 1985 for the highest fall survived without a parachute.. But it was no easy feat. Though she realized that JAT had confused her with another attendant named Vesna, she agreed to join anyway. 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 didn't want to go out at all. [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. When I told my parents I was living in the Swedish capital, they thought of the drugs and the sex and told me to come home at once." [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. [9] A man, describing himself as a Croatian nationalist, called the Swedish newspaper Kvllsposten the following day and claimed responsibility for the bombing of Flight 367. Vesna Vulovic, a Serbian stewardess who miraculously survived a plunge from 33,000 feet after her plane exploded in mid-air in 1972, died last week. WHAT MAKES A GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS TITLE? She was trapped in the cone of the tail and landed on a slope after plunging 10,160m from the DC-9 aircraft. Ms. Vulovics improbable story began on Jan. 26, 1972, in Copenhagen, where she was assigned to a Yugoslav Airlines crew for a flight to Belgrade. Vesna Vulovi was a Serbian flight attendant who holds the Guinness world record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute: 10,160 m . Vesna Vulovic is found dead by her friends in her apartment in Belgrade, Serbia The cause of death was not immediately known, according to Serbian state TV She became an instant national heroine . Foi a nica a sobreviver, depois que uma bomba explodiu no compartimento de bagagem do voo JAT 367 em 26 de janeiro de 1972, causando um acidente prximo a Srbsk Kamenice, na Checoslovquia. landed on a snowy, tree-covered hillside, claiming that documents showed the aircraft may have been mistakenly shot down. 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 was thus officially acknowledged as having surpassed the records of other fall survivors, such as Alan Magee, Juliane Koepcke, Nicholas Alkemade, and Ivan Chisov. One man seemed terribly annoyed. The cause of death was not immediately known (pictured in 2008). Her physicians believe her low blood pressure kept her heart from bursting on impact with the mountainside. [10] The Czech Civil Aviation Authority dismissed the journalists' claim, calling it a conspiracy theory. [13], In the last years of her life, Vulovi lived on a pension of 300 per month in her dilapidated Belgrade apartment. 'I felt different to the rest of my family - and my mum felt the same': Prince Harry opens up on his 'broken home' upbringing saying parents rowing in front of children 'is not a good idea' - but FAILS to mention William once in 90min toxic trauma chat, Maryland mayor arrested on 56 child pornography charges called Pete Buttigieg his 'buddy' and 'mentor' for helping him navigate politics as a gay man - and visited the White House at least six times, 'What does this mean!?' She was the sole survivor of the explosion of JAT Flight 367 near Srbska Kamenice, Czechoslovakia on . However, her dream almost didnt come true. Serbia's state TV said Saturday Vulovic was found dead by her friends in her apartment in Belgrade. All 27 other passengers and crew aboard perished. She continued for two more decades to fight against nationalism. The cause of death was not immediately known. Vesna Vulovic is believed to have been born on Jan. 3, 1950, in Belgrade. The accident ruined their lives too., First published on December 24, 2016 / 7:59 AM. Vesna Vulovic, when she worked as a stewardess. In 1972, Vesna Vulovic, a cabin attendant, survived a 10,160m fall when the DC-9 she was in . Though it seemed impossible that anyone could have survived such a crash, Honke soon realized that someone had. 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. 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 . All 27 other passengers and crew aboard perished. 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. With a history of low blood pressure, Vulovi knew it was unlikely shed pass the medical exam. stated in. YouTubeThe same type of aircraft that Vesna Vulovi was on before her fall. It is certain that the other passengers and crewmembers had similar horoscopes, as well. Due to her amnesia, Vesna Vulovi had no memory of the crash or the explosion and was left with the same love of flying and sense of adventure she had beforehand. The Associated Press contributed to this report. We'll use the information you provide us to contact you via email about our relevant content, products and services. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. She had a fractured skull, two crushed vertebrae and a broken pelvis, ribs and legs. "I saw all the passengers and crew deplane. Serbia's state TV said today Vulovic was found dead by her friends in her apartment in Belgrade. She suffered a skull fracture and broke her legs. A catering trolley was pinned against my spine and kept me in the plane.". She was in the rear of the plane with a food cart when the fuselage broke apart. They concluded that the DC-9 was mistakenly shot down by the Czechoslovak Air Force at an altitude of only 800 meters, or about 2,625 feet. Vulovi was fired from JAT in the early 1990s after taking part in anti-government protests during the breakup of Yugoslavia, but avoided arrest as the government was concerned about the negative publicity that her imprisonment would bring. Vesnas miraculous survival was attributed to her being pinned down by a food cart in the tail end of the fuselage (the aircrafts main body).