The Czech authorities concluded that explosives in a suitcase had detonated and tore the jet apart. As others were believed to have been sucked out of the jet into subfreezing temperatures, Ms. Vulovic remained inside part of the shattered fuselage, wedged in by a food cart, as it plunged. 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. The cause of death was not immediately known. 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. The cause of death was not immediately known. She was rushed to hospital where she fell into a coma for 10 days. Both of her legs had been broken along with three vertebrae, multiple ribs and a fractured pelvis. He managed to escape with a broken arm, minor scratches and bruises. If I were lucky I would never had this accident and my mother and father would be alive. When the cabin depressurized, the passengers and other flight crew were blown out of the aircraft and fell to their deaths. She was in the rear of the plane with a food cart when the fuselage broke apart. 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. [3][d] She attributed the divorce to her chain smoking, which her husband disapproved of. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Serbia's state TV. 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. It was suspected that a bomb had been planted inside the jet during a stopover in Copenhagen. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? The Serbian flight attendant holds the Guinness record for highest fall survived without a parachute. Air safety investigators attributed the explosion to a briefcase bomb. [4] Honke had been a medic during the Second World War and was able to keep Vulovi alive until rescuers arrived. 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. Ms. 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. Vesna Vulovic, a flight attendant who was the only one of 28 people to survive a jetliner blast over Czechoslovakia in 1972. List of sole survivors of aviation accidents or incidents, "Vesna Vulovic, Flight Attendant Who Survived Jetliner Blast, Dies at 66", "Vesna Vulovic, air stewardess who survived a plane crash obituary", "Vesna Vulovic: How to survive a bombing at 33,000 feet", "Serbia's Most Famous Survivor Fears That Recent History Will Repeat Itself", "Vesna Vulovic: Flight Attendant Who Survived Mid-Air Explosion and 33,000-foot Fall, Dies at 66", "Njemaki mediji o sluaju JAT 1972: Napad hrvatske emigracije je plod mate tajnih slubi", "Vesna Vulovic, stewardess who survived 33,000ft fall, dies", "Official Abstract of the Final Report (English)", "Highest fall survived without parachute", "Bask in the Bracing Unsentimentality of Vesna Vulovic, the Only Person to Survive a 1972 Plane Crash", "Fate or fluke? An instant national heroine, she went on to put her celebrity at the service of political causes, protesting against Slobodan Milosevics rule in the 1990s and later campaigning for liberal forces in elections. They claimed that the very thing that almost kept Vulovi from being a flight attendant is what ultimately saved her life. The first of his numerous near-death experiences began on a cold January day in 1962, when Selak was on a train to Dubrovnik: it suddenly derailed into an icy river, killing 17 passengers. The two claimed that the Czechoslovak State Security had conjured up Vulovi's record fall as part of a cover-up. In addition to her extensive bodily injuries and her fractured skull, her brain had also hemorrhaged and she had total amnesia. All rights reserved. [b] She also suffered two broken legs and three broken vertebrae, one of which was crushed completely. Anyone can read what you share. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! Vesna Vulovic, an air stewardess who survived the highest ever fall by a human being after her plane broke up at 33,000ft (10,000m), has died aged 66. 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. Vesna Vulovic's record fall Communist propaganda, say journalists, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Serbia must choose between EU and Russia, says Germany, Serbia bans its first staging of EuroPride rally at late notice, Its a win for us: Serbias cancelled EuroPride exposes ongoing LGBTQ+ struggle, Serbian president Aleksandar Vui wins new term by landslide. State TV in Vulovic's home country of Serbia said she was found dead in her apartment in Belgrade. Ms. 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. Ms. Vulovic was working as a. Vesna Vulovi recovering in the hospital. The cause of death was not known. When was the accident bound to have happened? According to the official accident report, an explosion tore the DC-9 she was working . 23 December 2016. The cause of death was not immediately known. In 1985 Vulovi entered the Guinness Book of Records for the highest fall survived without a parachute. A verification email has been sent to you. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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. The cause of her 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. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. 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). Although Vesna survived, she sustained extremely serious injuries and spent the following days in a coma. She was not scheduled to be on that flight; she had been mixed up with another flight attendant who was also named Vesna (wikipedia: Vesna Vulovi? 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." 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). Vulovic holds the Guinness World Record for highest fall without a parachute a miraculous 33,333-foot plunge to Earth. When she found out a friend was becoming a flight attendant and traveling the world, she jumped at the chance. Vesna Vulovic's Ascendant in her annual horoscope for 1971/1972 is at the eighteenth degree of Gemini. English Wikipedia. 9 October 2017. place of death. "[21] Vulovi declined therapy to help cope with her experiences and instead turned to religion, becoming a devout Orthodox Christian. Vesna Vulovic is believed to have been born on Jan. 3, 1950, in Belgrade. After traveling to London to learn English, she realized her love of traveling. The fuselage separated from the rest of the plane and hurtled towards the ground in a heavily wooded area near the Czechoslovak village of Srbsk Kamenice. It crash landed in the thick snow at a favourable angle, which is most likely what saved Vesnas life. According to the Czechoslovak Civil Aviation Authority, the explosion was caused by a briefcase bomb placed in the aircrafts baggage compartment. Vulovic was rescued by a woodsman who followed her screams in the dark forest. Vesna Vulovi was found dead by her friends in her apartment in Belgrade, Serbian state television reported. The cause of death was not immediately known. [20] They also hypothesized that the call received by Kvllsposten, claiming responsibility for the aircraft's downing, was a hoax. [3][6], Air safety investigators attributed Vulovi's survival to her being trapped by a food cart in the DC-9's fuselage as it broke away from the rest of the aircraft and plummeted towards the ground. Vesna Vulovic, when she worked as a stewardess. On the evening of January 26, 1972, Bruno Honke heard screaming coming from a hillside just outside of his village in Czechoslovakia. The Guinness World Record holder for the "highest fall survived without a parachute," Vesna Vulovic, has been found dead in her apartment in Serbia. The cause of death is not yet known. Her cause of death was not immediately known . Maybe I was born in the wrong place. The cause of death was not immediately known (pictured in 2008). Market data provided by Factset. Vesna Vulovi (Yugoslavia, b. [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. WHAT MAKES A GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS TITLE? 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. [3] In 1985, The Guinness Book of World Records recognized Vulovi as the world record holder for surviving the highest fall without a parachute: 10,160 metres (33,330ft; 6.31mi). Vesna [] "I am like a cat, I have had nine lives," she told the New York Times. Do you know this baby? [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. On the 35th anniversary of the disaster, in 2007, Zdenko Kubik, a firefighter, recalled: I heard a sound like that of military jets landing. YouTubeA young Vesna Vulovi in her flight attendant uniform. Vulovic was working on a Yugoslav Airlines Douglas DC-9 on 26 Jan 1972 when a suspected bomb brought the plane down among mountains in Czechoslovakia. 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. Picture: AP . 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). Because his parachute was destroyed by the fire, Alkemade opted to jump from the aircraft without one, preferring his death to be quick, rather than being burnt to death. Vulovi?, 22 years old at the time, was a flight attendant on board. Serbia's state TV said Ms Vulovic was. She eventually made a full recovery but never regained memory of the incident, as she explained in a 2002 interview with Green Light Limited. Authorities confirmed the "miracle" woman was found dead in her Belgrade, Serbia, home. 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. 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. She never regained memory of the accident or her rescue. She suffered a fractured skull, two broken legs, three broken vertebrae, a fractured pelvis, several broken ribs and temporary paralysis below the waist. She had no memory of the flight or her descent. She had been working for the airline for only eight months when the accident occurred. Ms. Vulovic in a picture released by the airline. When Vesna awoke from a coma two weeks after the crash her body was ravaged. 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'. [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. The same type of aircraft that Vesna Vulovi was on before her fall. [4][16], In September 1972, Vulovi expressed willingness to resume working as a flight attendant. 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. She was. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, "I am like a cat, I have had nine lives," she told the New York Times. On the day of the crash, a bomb exploded aboard a train travelling from Vienna to Zagreb, injuring six. [4] In total, she spent sixteen months recuperating. 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. [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. She was honored by Josip Tito, Yugoslavias Communist leader, and celebrated as a national hero. The Guinness Book of World Records says the plunge was from a height of 33,000 feet, the longest recorded fall without a parachute. 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, was. Vesna Vulovi in 1972. Please confirm by clicking the link in the email to be added to our mailing list. [19] In 1977,[c] she married mechanical engineer Nikola Breka after a year of dating. At least 12 dead after winter storm slams South, Midwest, The Saturday Six: Dental device controversy, scientist's bug find and more, Trump speaks at CPAC after winning straw poll, 3 children killed, 2 others wounded at Texas home, Man charged for alleged involvement in 2 transformer explosions, Nikki Haley slams potential GOP contenders, and Trump and George W. Bush, Duo of 81-year-old women plan to see the world in 80 days, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant to "take some time away" from the team after allegedly brandishing a gun in a club, Alex Murdaugh trial: What to know about the double murder case, Colombia wants to deport "cocaine hippos" to stop them from multiplying, Indonesia fuel depot fire kills 18; more than a dozen missing, New moai statue found in Easter Island volcano crater. On the same day as the tragedy of Flight 367, another bomb was set off on a train between Vienna and Zagreb, injuring six people. Katie Serena is a New York City-based writer and a staff writer at All That's Interesting. It was suspected that a bomb was planted inside the jet during a scheduled stopover in Copenhagen, Denmark, but no arrests were ever made. They didnt want me because they didnt want so much publicity about the accident, she told Green Light. [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. date of death. In total, 128 terror attacks were carried out by Croatian nationalists against Yugoslavia between 1962 and 1982. "Everybody wanted to buy something for his or her family," she recalled. The theory has also been dismissed by the Civilian Aviation Authority and Czech army experts. . 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. Regardless of the scenario, Vulovic survived the ordeal, despite suffering a crushed skull, snapped legs and three broken vertebrae. She was the sole survivor of the explosion of JAT Flight 367 near Srbska Kamenice, Czechoslovakia on . The explosion and crash killed everyone on board. Putting names to archive photos, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, In photos: India's disappearing single-screen cinemas. The aircraft broke apart in mid-air before falling 33,330 feet down to the ground in Srbsk Kamenice, Czechoslovakia. 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. Serbias state TV said Saturday Vulovic was found dead by her friends in her apartment in Belgrade. DR ELLIE CANNON: My breast has not got lumps but it's itchy, should I be concerned about cancer at age 72? Thu 20 May 2004 07.21 EDT. [4], Vulovi told reporters that she did not think of her fall every day, but admitted to struggling with survivor's guilt. retrieved. A bomb, which may . [3] JAT felt that her presence on flights would attract too much publicity and instead gave her a desk job negotiating freight contracts. The fuselage tumbled through pine branches and into a thick coating of snow, softening the impact and cushioning its descent down the hill. According to Guinness World Records, 30 years after the crash, Vulovic said: Im not lucky. 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. Trapped in the planes tail, Vulovi plummeted to earth in sub-zero temperatures and landed on a steep, heavily wooded slope near a village. 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These injuries resulted in her being temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. Vesna Vulovi . 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. [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. Serbia's state TV reports Saturday Dec. 24, 2016, Vulovic was found dead by her friends in her apartment in Belgrade, aged 66. The cause of death was not immediately known. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time by visiting our unsubscribe page and providing your email address. 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. The cause of death was not immediately known. Vesna Vulovic has similar horoscope. The cause of death was not immediately known. She had wanted her old job back and disagreed with the airline that she was not healthy enough to resume it. Vulovi? 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). "I was broken, and the doctors put me back together again," she told the New York Times in 2008. Vesna Vulovic, an air stewardess who survived the highest ever fall by a human being after her plane broke up at 33,000ft (10,000m), has died aged 66. Vulovic holds the Guinness World Record for highest fall without a parachute a miraculous 33,333-foot plunge to Earth. The explosion was determined to be from a briefcase bomb planted by the Ustae a Croatian separatist group seeking independence from Yugoslavia.