Flight attendant Vesna Vulovic survives 10,160 metre fall in 1972 crash
The Yugoslav Airlines hostess remains the sole survivor of 28 people after an explosion tore her plane apart over Czechoslovakia.
Flight attendant Vesna Vulovic survived a fall from 10,160 metres after a bomb caused a Yugoslav Airlines aircraft to break apart over Czechoslovakia on 26 January 1972, according to the Times of India.
The Douglas DC-9 was travelling from Stockholm to Belgrade via Copenhagen when the explosion occurred at high altitude. While 27 passengers and crew members died, the 23-year-old hostess was the only survivor.
Investigators suspected an explosive device was placed on the plane during its stopover in Copenhagen. The aircraft disintegrated in midair, scattering debris across a wooded area near Srbska Kamenice.
Vulovic was found in the wreckage by a local woodsman, Bruno Honke. She had sustained a fractured skull, broken pelvis, several broken ribs, and two crushed vertebrae.
It is believed she survived because she was held in place by a food trolley within the tail section of the plane. The impact was likely cushioned by the snow and trees on the mountainside.
Guinness World Records recognises her as holding the record for the highest fall survived without a parachute. After 16 months in hospital, Vulovic returned to work for the airline in a desk-based role.