Vesna Vulović

Vesna Vulović
Born	(1950-01-03) 3 January 1950
Nationality	Serbian
Occupation(s)	Political campaigner, former flight attendant

Vesna Vulović (Template:Lang-sr; born 3 January 1950) is a Serbian former flight attendant. She holds the world record, according to the Guinness Book of Records, for surviving the highest fall without a parachute: 10,160 metres (33,330 ft).

Plane explosion

On 26 January 1972, an explosion on JAT Flight 367, while over Srbská Kamenice in Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) caused the plane to break apart. Vulović, 22-years old at the time, was a flight attendant on board. She was not scheduled to be on that flight however, she had been mixed up with another female flight attendant who was also named Vesna.

The official report of the Czechoslovak investigation commission that was handed over to the ICAO on 7 May 1974, stated that there had been an explosion in the front baggage compartment of the plane. The Czechoslovak secret service (Státní bezpečnost), which was leading the investigation, presented parts of an alarm clock ten days after the crash which they claimed came from a bomb. The report concluded that the explosion was the result of a bomb.

On the morning of 27 January 1972, an anonymous man called the newspaper Kvällsposten published in Malmö, Sweden, claiming, in broken Swedish, that he was a Croat and member of a nationalist group that placed the bomb on the plane. Apart from this, no further evidence was ever found that established if the bombing was a terrorist attack. Nevertheless, shortly after the phone call the Yugoslav government blamed the Ustaše. According to the official report the explosion tore the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 to pieces in mid-air, and Vulović was the only survivor. It has since been stated, she survived because she had been in the rear part of the plane. However, Vulović states that she was found in the middle section right above the wings, and Bruno Henke, the man who saved Vulović's life by rescuing her from the wrecked fuselage on the ground, found her there as well.

Fall

Vulović fell approximately 10,160 metres (33,330 ft). She suffered a fractured skull, three broken vertebrae (one crushed completely) that left her temporarily paralyzed from the waist down and two broken legs. She was in a coma for 27 days. In an interview, she commented that according to the man who found her, "...I was in the middle part of the plane. I was found with my head down and my colleague on top of me. One part of my body with my leg was in the plane and my head was out of the plane. A catering trolley was pinned against my spine and kept me in the plane. The man who found me, says I was very lucky. He was in the German Army as a medic during World War II. He knew how to treat me at the site of the accident."

Plane explosion

On 26 January 1972, an explosion on JAT Flight 367, while over Srbská Kamenice in Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) caused the plane to break apart. Vulović, 22-years old at the time, was a flight attendant on board. She was not scheduled to be on that flight however, she had been mixed up with another female flight attendant who was also named Vesna.

The official report of the Czechoslovak investigation commission that was handed over to the ICAO on 7 May 1974, stated that there had been an explosion in the front baggage compartment of the plane. The Czechoslovak secret service (Státní bezpečnost), which was leading the investigation, presented parts of an alarm clock ten days after the crash which they claimed came from a bomb. The report concluded that the explosion was the result of a bomb.

On the morning of 27 January 1972, an anonymous man called the newspaper Kvällsposten published in Malmö, Sweden, claiming, in broken Swedish, that he was a Croat and member of a nationalist group that placed the bomb on the plane. Apart from this, no further evidence was ever found that established if the bombing was a terrorist attack. Nevertheless, shortly after the phone call the Yugoslav government blamed the Ustaše. According to the official report the explosion tore the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 to pieces in mid-air, and Vulović was the only survivor. It has since been stated, she survived because she had been in the rear part of the plane. However, Vulović states that she was found in the middle section right above the wings, and Bruno Henke, the man who saved Vulović's life by rescuing her from the wrecked fuselage on the ground, found her there as well.

Aftermath

Vulović continued working for JAT at a desk job following a full recovery from her injuries. She regained the use of her legs after surgery and continued to fly sporadically. She claims she has no fear of flying, which she attributes to the loss of memory of the crash, and she even enjoys watching movies with plane crashes. She is considered a national heroine throughout the former Yugoslavia.

Vulović was awarded the Guinness Record title by Paul McCartney at a ceremony in 1985.

Vulović was eventually dismissed in 1990 for expressing views critical of Yugoslav ruler Slobodan Milošević. She participated in protests against his rule afterwards, up to and including the Bulldozer Revolution that led to his ousting. Many believe that her status as a national heroine prevented the authorities from arresting her despite her open defiance of the Milošević government. She continues to be vocal in politics in Serbia.

2009 report

In January 2009 German ARD radio correspondent Peter Hornung-Andersen together with German journalist Tim van Beveren and Czech journalist Pavel Theiner published a report based on newly found documents, mainly from the Czech Civil Aviation Authority and the Czech Republic's National Archive, concluding that it was "extremely probable" that the plane had been shot down by mistake by the Czechoslovak Air Force. They claim that the plane broke up only a few hundred meters above the ground, not the 10,000 metres claimed by the official investigation. This claim is backed by evidence , e.g. secret reports, in which several eye witnesses said that they saw Vesna's plane flying below the clouds before it crashed and maps drawn by Czechoslovak investigators showing that the largest parts of the plane were found in an area that is rather smaller than would have been expected if the plane broke apart at the claimed altitude. The Czech Civil Aviation Authority nevertheless issued a statement denying the claim without addressing the evidence. The original statement has given rise to more recent reports. Vulović, despite having no memory of the crash or the flight after boarding, has challenged these new theories, denying the claim that the plane descended to a much lower altitude while attempting a forced landing. A representative of Guinness World Records stated that "it seems that at the time Guinness was duped by this swindle just like the rest of the media."

One source does not support such conspiracy theories and quotes Czech army expert: "In case of violation of the air space, the incident would not be solved by anti-air missiles, but by fighter planes. Also it would not be possible to conceal such incident, as there would approximately 150 - 200 people knowing about the incident. They would not have any reason to not tell about incident today."

See also

Fall survivors

• Nicholas Alkemade, British, Lancaster crewman, who survived falling from his burning aircraft in 1944
• Alan Magee, American, WW2 airman, who survived a 22,000-foot (6,700 m) fall from his damaged B-17
• Ivan Chisov, Soviet Airforce Lieutenant who survived falling from his aircraft in 1942

Other

• JAT Flight 367
• Freefall
• List of sole survivors of aviation accidents or incidents

External links

• Photo of Vulović before release from the hospital
• Plane Crashes Since 1970 with a Sole Survivor - airsafe.com