{"id":26825,"date":"2026-11-15T11:03:24","date_gmt":"2026-11-15T11:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/?p=26825"},"modified":"2026-11-15T11:03:24","modified_gmt":"2026-11-15T11:03:24","slug":"woman-who-survived-33000ft-fall-from-plane-without-a-parachute-opened-up-about-her-experience-decades-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/?p=26825","title":{"rendered":"Woman who survived 33,000ft fall from plane without a parachute opened up about her experience decades later"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

magine falling out of an airplane, knowing you will die. What do you think about in those last moments? Well, one woman can probably tell you, since she survived. 40 years after the shocking incident, Vesna Vulovi\u0107, then 23, shared a haunting admission.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surviving a plane crash is something most people could hardly imagine. But for one woman, the experience was even more extraordinary and true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1972, Vesna Vulovi\u0107 survived a fall of more than 33,000 feet after the plane she was working on broke apart in mid-air. She had no parachute, and every other person on board was killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her survival made headlines worldwide and earned her a place in the Guinness World Records. But while she survived, it turned out it wasn\u2019t just a miracle, but also a deep burden..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vulovi\u0107 was just 23 years old when she boarded JAT Yugoslav Airlines Flight 367 on January 26, 1972. The plane was traveling from Stockholm to Belgrade when an explosion tore the aircraft apart over what was then Czechoslovakia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigators believed a bomb hidden inside a briefcase caused the disaster. But in a remarkable twist, Vulovi\u0107 was not even supposed to be on that particular flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A mix-up involving another crew member with the same first name led to her being assigned to it. She would become the only person to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vesna Vulovi\u0107 survived 33,000ft fall from plane without a parachute<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to reports<\/a>, she was trapped in the tail section of the aircraft, pinned down by a food cart. The wreckage crashed into a snow-covered, wooded area near the village of Srbsk\u00e1 Kamenice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A local villager named Bruno Honke, who had worked as a medic during World War II, found her among the wreckage and rushed to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vulovi\u0107 had suffered horrific injuries, including a fractured skull, broken legs, and a crushed spine. She spent time in a coma but eventually learned to walk again after months of recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her survival became internationally famous. In 1985, she received a Guinness World Records medal from Beatles legend Paul McCartney. Guinness recognized her for surviving a fall of 33,333 feet (10,160 meters) without a parachute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the official explanation of the crash has been questioned. In 2009, two journalists suggested the aircraft may have been shot down at a much lower altitude. The theory remains disputed to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy colleagues had a feeling that something would happen to them\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The world celebrated her survival, and Vulovic became a national hero. But while that happened, Vesna was dealing with a much more difficult reality. Decades later, she opened up about the emotional burden of being the only survivor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a 2002 interview with security training firm Green Light Limited, she recalled that something had seemed wrong among the crew before the flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy colleagues had a feeling that something would happen to them. The captain was locked in his room for 24 hours. He didn\u2019t want to go out at all,\u201d she told security training firm Green Light Limited, as reported by Unilad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite her injuries, Vulovi\u0107 eventually returned to work for the airline in an office role. She also became involved in politics and took part in protests against Slobodan Milo\u0161evi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vesna Vulovi\u0107 opened up about guilt 40 years later<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

However, the memories of the disaster continued to haunt her. Speaking to The Independent in 2012, 40 years after the crash, she revealed the guilt she sometimes felt about surviving when everyone else had died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhenever I think of the accident, I have a prevailing, grave feeling of guilt for surviving it and I cry, she said. \u201cThen I think maybe I should not have survived at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vesna further explained that she had no memory of the actual crash, only that she woke up \u201cin the Czech hospital the next day and asking a doctor for a cigarette.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe last thing I remember before the accident is passengers boarding the flight in Copenhagen and nothing else until my coming out from coma at the hospital,\u201d she cotninued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December of 2016, Vesna Vulovi\u0107 sadly died in her apartment in Belgrade. She was 66.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her extraordinary survival remains one of the most remarkable stories in aviation history. But still, it\u2019s important to remember that even though you might be lucky, just like Vesna was, it can also bring a lot of pain with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rest in peace, Vesna, and all the others who died in the plane accident involving JAT Yugoslav Airlines Flight 367.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Falling<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

magine falling out of an airplane, knowing you will die. What do you think about in those last moments? Well, one woman can probably tell you, since she survived. 40 years after the shocking incident, Vesna Vulovi\u0107, then 23, shared a haunting admission. Surviving a plane crash is something most people could hardly imagine. But …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26825"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26827,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26825\/revisions\/26827"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}