Vesna Vulovic Plane crash survivor Date of Birth: 03.01.1950 Country: Serbia

1. Biography of Vesna Vulović
2. Early Life
3. Career as a Flight Attendant
4. The Crash and Survival
5. Life after the Crash

Biography of Vesna Vulović

Vesna Vulović, a Serbian flight attendant, survived a plane crash and the subsequent fall from a height of 10,160 meters. She holds the record in the Guinness Book of Records for the highest fall without a parachute.

Early Life

Vesna Vulović was born in 1950 in Serbia. At the age of 22, in 1972, she worked as a flight attendant. She was assigned to the ill-fated JAT Flight 367, which exploded in the air on January 26, 1972. The plane was flying from Stockholm to Belgrade via Copenhagen and Zagreb. The explosion caused the plane to crash over the Czechoslovakian village of Srbská Kamenice. Out of the 28 people on board, only Vesna Vulović survived the crash.

Career as a Flight Attendant

Vulović became a flight attendant almost by chance. After finishing school, she enrolled in university to study English and even had an internship in England. It was during this time that she met an old school friend who had become a pilot. He recommended that Vulović, who was also a beauty, try working as a flight attendant on international routes. This allowed her to practice her English, earn good money, and travel abroad. She became a flight attendant in 1971 and took her first flight that year.

The Crash and Survival

On the day of the crash, Vulović noticed a loader who seemed agitated and was speaking loudly and acting restless. She later believed that this person was responsible for planting the bomb on the plane. At the time of the explosion, Vulović was in the rear section of the aircraft, while the blast occurred in the front. However, the plane was falling from a height of over 10 kilometers. Vulović believes that being in the tail section saved her life. She was found in the middle part of the wreckage.

The first person to reach the crash site was a local resident named Bruno Henke, who had worked in a hospital during the war and had first aid skills. He saved Vulović by discovering her breathing among the numerous dead bodies. It is believed that the first aid provided by Henke contributed to Vulović's survival. Despite suffering from a fractured skull, three broken vertebrae (one completely crushed, leaving her temporarily paralyzed from the waist down), and both legs broken, Vulović slowly recovered. She remained in a coma for 27 days.

Life after the Crash

After two months, Vulović was transferred back to Serbia. Interestingly, she flew home on an airplane. This concerned doctors, as they worried about the potential trauma it might cause. However, Vulović reacted well, thanks in part to her memory blocking out the traumatic events. She did not develop a fear of flying and continued her career in aviation, although she was no longer allowed to fly.

In 1985, Vesna Vulović was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records for her "free fall" and received the award from Paul McCartney at the ceremony. It is worth noting that Vulović decided to learn English because of The Beatles' songs. She got married in 1977 and lived with her husband for 15 years, but they did not have any children. She later became an opponent of Slobodan Milošević's regime, participating in protests and rallies, which led to her dismissal from work.

Vesna Vulović's miraculous survival is still remembered today, and her record of falling from a height of 10,160 meters remains unbroken.