[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. (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. The cause of death was not immediately known. Though no arrests were ever made, Yugoslav authorities suspected that a Croatian ultranationalist terrorist group, the Ustashe, were behind both bombings. The fuselage tumbled through pine branches and into a thick coating of snow, softening the impact and cushioning its descent down the hill. 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. Thu 20 May 2004 07.21 EDT. So right before heading in, she drank several cups of coffee, hoping it would keep her blood pressure high enough. 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. Trees broke the fall of the fuselage section and snow on the hill cushioned its landing. Although Vesna survived, she sustained extremely serious injuries and spent the following days in a coma. She stated that her ordeal had turned her into an optimist. 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. FacebookTwitterYouTubeInstagramLinkedInSnapchatPinterestTiktok, Registered Office: Ground Floor, The Rookery, 2 Dyott Street, London, WC1A 1DE, United Kingdom, Otto - Longest human tunnel travelled through by a skateboarding dog, Ashrita Furman - Most Guinness World Records titles held. What science tells us about the afterlife. Although we always love to see records being broken, this one is an exception and we hope no one ever experiences a fall like Vesna's again. [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 continued to fly occasionally, she said, without any fear. Vesna Vulovic, who survived a midair explosion in 1972, has died at the age of 66. [22] Hornung-Andersen conceded that the pair's evidence was only circumstantial. "Nobody ever expected me to live this long.". Vulovic was rescued by a woodsman who followed her screams in the dark forest. [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. Nobody ever expected me to live this long.. Her cause of death was not immediately known . The best indicator is the annual horoscope. [11] Her injuries resulted in her being temporarily paralyzed below the waist. The same type of aircraft that Vesna Vulovi was on before her fall. She was. She remembered greeting passengers for the flight, and then nothing until she saw her parents in her hospital room. Serbian-born Vesna Vulovi was 22 years old and had been a flight attendant for only eight months before the fateful crash. Vulovi's parents told her that she first learned of the crash about two weeks after it occurred. Vesna Vulovic, a Serbian flight attendant who holds the world record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute when her plane broke apart. Ms. Vulovic disagreed that luck played any part in helping her to survive the 33,000-foot fall. "People always want to sit next to me on the plane," she said. 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. Her turquoise uniform was covered in blood and her stiletto heels had been torn off by the force of the impact. From the crash, Vulovi had sustained two broken legs, three broken vertebrae, a fractured pelvis, broken ribs, and a fractured skull. 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). imported from Wikimedia project. 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. In 1971 she joined JAT Airways, Yugoslavias national flag carrier and the countrys largest airline. "But if nationalist forces in this country prevail, my heart will burst. Vesna Vulovi was 66. 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. Her cause of death was not immediately known. Ms Vulovic was working on board a Yugoslav Airlines flight that crashed in 1972. 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The cause of death was not immediately known. 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. The accident ruined their lives, too. I think it was the man who put the bomb in the baggage. Vulovi wished to go sightseeing but her colleagues insisted that they go shopping. 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. 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. "I am like a cat, I have had nine lives," she told the New York Times. [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. The explosion and crash killed everyone on board. The cause of death was not immediately known. [3] Her pelvis was fractured and several ribs broken. In total, 128 terror attacks were carried out by Croatian nationalists against Yugoslavia between 1962 and 1982. Katie Serena is a New York City-based writer and a staff writer at All That's Interesting. 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. Serbia's state TV said Saturday that Ms. Vulovic was found dead by her friends in her apartment in Belgrade. 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? 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. She was 66. 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. The spectacular survival story won Vulovic celebrity status in Serbia, where she channelled her fame into campaigning for political causes. Upon returning to Belgrade, Vulovi decided to become a flight attendant after seeing one of her friends in a flight attendant's uniform. The comments below have not been moderated. Thehorrors of Mariupol should remind us of a new danger to Sarajevo, Russians using Serbian loophole to avoid EU flights ban, Russia may pressure Serbia to undermine western Balkans, leaders warn, Iron Curtain by Vesna Goldsworthy review belonging and betrayal, Illegal extradition of Bahraini dissident from Serbia calls Interpols role into question. Read about our approach to external linking. It was suspected that a bomb was planted inside the jet during a scheduled stopover in Copenhagen, Denmark, but no arrests were ever made. The cause of death was not immediately known. Published: 11:57 EST, 24 December 2016 | Updated: 08:47 EST, 25 December 2016. How she managed this isn't entirely clear, but the . All of the other 27 passengers and crew on board died. [b] She also suffered two broken legs and three broken vertebrae, one of which was crushed completely. While Vulovi had been hoping to go sightseeing, the rest of the group seemed focused on shopping and sitting in the hotel. [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. 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. 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. [3][4] Nevertheless, Vulovi said that she was excited to travel to Denmark because it was her first time visiting the country. A catering trolley was pinned against my spine and kept me in the plane.". . BELGRADE, Serbia Vesna Vulovic, a Serbian stewardess who miraculously survived a plunge from 10,000 meters after her plane exploded in mid-air in 1972, has died. Vesna Vulovic died in Belgrade in December 2016, at the age of 66. Vesna Vulovic. [20], In the early 1990s, Vulovi and her husband divorced. Vesna [] To her delight, it worked, and she was allowed into the flight attendant training program. 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. ", "Too good to be true? [11] The Czechoslovak Civil Aviation Authority later attributed the explosion to a briefcase bomb. A young Vesna Vulovi in her flight attendant uniform. Serbias state TV said Saturday Vulovic was found dead by her friends in her apartment in Belgrade. The tail landed in a heavily wooded and snow-blanketed part of a mountainside, which was thought to have cushioned the impact. Market data provided by Factset. In her home country of Yugoslavia, Vesna Vulovi became a national icon, honoured by the President of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito. The Ustache was a far-right Nazi group in Croatia that was linked to more than two dozen terrorist operations against Yugoslavia following World War II. [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. They claimed that the very thing that almost kept Vulovi from being a flight attendant is what ultimately saved her life. If I were lucky I would never had this accident and my mother and father would be alive. Filip Horvat for The International Herald Tribune. Vulovi?, 22 years old at the time, was a flight attendant on board. Vulovic entered the Guinness Book of Records in 1985 for "the highest fall survived without a parachute.". This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Serbia's state TV reports Saturday Dec. 24, 2016, Vulovic was found dead by her friends in her apartment in Belgrade, aged 66. The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, landed at Copenhagen Airport at 2:30p.m., whereupon Vulovi and her colleagues boarded the plane. 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. Vulovic was rescued by a woodsman who followed her screams in the dark forest. Vesna passed away at 66 in 2016 (Source: guinnessworldrecords.com) Fifty years ago, a 23-year-old woman fell 33,333 feet from the sky and survived, making it to the Guinness World Record (GWR) for 'Highest fall survived without parachute'. "So I had to go shopping with them. Vesna Vulovic, an ex-air stewardess who survived a 10 kilometre fall to Earth, is seen in a 2008 file photo. 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. Serbia's state TV said Saturday Vulovic was found dead by her friends in her apartment in Belgrade. I was talking to them and asking them why they were with me in Slovenia. [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. They never reached the second stopover in Zagreb, Croatia. Her name was Vesna Vulovi and she was a flight attendant on JAT Yugoslave Airlines Flight 367, en route from Stockholm to Belgrade on the 26th of January in 1972. languages spoken, written or signed. ( , 3. 1950 23. 2016 [1]) 10.160 . [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. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. On the evening of January 26, 1972, Bruno Honke heard screaming coming from a hillside just outside of his village in Czechoslovakia. Belgrade New Cemetery. 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. 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. 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 had a fractured skull, two crushed vertebrae and a broken pelvis, ribs and legs. Stjuardesa Vesna Vulovi jedina je osoba koja je bez padobrana preivjela pad s 10.000 metara Na dananji dan 1972. godine stjuardesa Vesna Vulovi bila je jedini preivjeli putnik nakon eksplozije bombe u avionu JAT DC-9" na liniji Kopenhagen-Beograd i pada s oko 10.000 metara. Vesna Vulovic, when she worked as a stewardess. On 23 December, locksmiths discovered her body in her apartment after forcing open the door. Find a Grave. Of the 28 passengers and crew, Vesna Vulovi was the only survivor.