Surviving a 33,000 foot drop
 

Vesna Vulović 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).

On 26 January 1972, an explosion on JAT Flight 367, while over Srbská Kamenice in Czechoslovakia (now in the 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; she had been mixed up with another 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 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.

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."

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.

That was one lucky women!

damn thats just like winning a lottery...

Not really a drop if she was inside a plane

She was still dropping as fast as the plane

:1orglaugh

I think it counts :2 cents:

try yourself then tell us about it

..... and she even enjoys watching movies with plane crashes.

wow :Oh crap

Yeah I agree....how do they call that a 33,000 drop without a PARACHUTE if you're inside the plane? Still amazing, but they should word that differently.

i think everyone just decided to give it to her :1orglaugh

Serbian flight attendant falling down onto the town of Srbska Kamenice (Srbska is translated as "Serbian") .. well, sounds like a nice irony :-D ..she fell home :1orglaugh

crazy story of luck. With my luck, I'd be 100% dead :]

wow, she is lucky. I am sure she lost consiousness during the fall.

a drop is a drop:2 cents:

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 was destroyed in flight by émigré Croatian terrorists (Ustaše) who had placed a bomb on board

http://ggeeoorrgg.net/wp-content/the...es/vulovic.jpg

http://www.timetableimages.com/i-gj/jat3.jpg

http://www.myapp.com.tw/wp-content/t...620&zc=1&q=100

See...there you go. They say it's FREEFALL WITHOUT A PARACHUTE.

This is freefall without a parachute.

http://i.imgur.com/lJLAF45.jpg

There was a plane crash a few days ago in Taiwan in which a woman survived and crawled out of the wreckage and called her dad to have him come pick her up.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...hones-dad.html

wasn't 33k ft but still..

even better.