Can you survive a plane crash? This question is asked not only by those who are going to cross the space by air transport, but also by those who have lost their loved ones in such disasters. It can only be answered theoretically. But history knows numerous cases of saving people. And the word "numerous" is not a typo here.

A bit of history

On the Internet today you can find a lot of information about the survivors of plane crashes. But we will focus on major accidents in which the number of victims exceeded a hundred people.

1. In 1970, Flight 502 from Cusco to Lima crashed in an area of ​​Peru near Cusco. There were 102 people on board the aircraft (8 crew members and 94 passengers). At the time of the crash, 99 people died, three survived. On the way to the hospital, two of the survivors died from their injuries. One person survived.
2. On December 23, 1984, Tu-154b-2 flew from Krasnoyarsk to Irkutsk, but it did not reach its destination. When climbing in one of the engines, one of its elements was damaged, which led to a fire in the third, and then in the second engines. There were 104 people on board the plane, 103 of whom died. One person survived.
3. In August 1987, a McDonnell Douglas Md-82 flew from Detroit to Phoenix. There were 155 people on board (149 passengers and 6 crew members). The plane crashed on takeoff, for unclear reasons (possibly pilot error - National Transportation Safety Board). In the crash, the aircraft hit three other vehicles on the ground, killing 2 people. 154 people died on the plane itself. Small girl Cecilia Sichan, who at that time was 4 years old, survived although she received multiple injuries.
4. On October 5, 1991, Indonesian special forces soldiers were returning on a flight from Jakarta to Bandung. There were 134 people on board the aircraft, 12 of which were crew members and 122 were passengers. On takeoff, the plane caught fire and crashed into the city, crashing into the building of the Ministry of Labor. Of the 134 people on the plane, 133 were killed, and two of the building's security guards were also killed. One passenger on the plane survived. .
5. In March 2003, a Boeing 737-200 left the Algiers airport, but it did not reach its final destination. On takeoff, one of the aircraft's engines failed, and the command was unable to timely troubleshoot and perform an emergency landing. There were 103 people on board the plane, 102 of whom died. Only one person survived .
6. At the end of June 2009, flight iy 626 was flying from Sana'a to Moroni. There were 153 people on board. When landing, the pilots made a mistake that caused one of the largest disasters of mankind and claimed the lives of 152 people. In this tragedy 13 year old girl survived Baya Bakary. She waited almost 13 hours for help in open ocean.
7. On May 12, 2010, a plane crashed while landing in Tripoli, the capital of Libya, with 104 people on board. The cause of the crash was pilot error, which turned on the autopilot too late. In tragedy 9 year old boy survived , who received a huge number of injuries and fractures.
8. Another recent incident, which, perhaps, will not soon be forgotten, is the death of an entire hockey team "locomotive" of the city of Yaroslavl. There were 45 people on board the Yak-42d airliner. 44 people died in the crash. Only one member of the crew survived.

Common Causes of a Crash

According to experts involved in the study of air crashes, most often the cause of such tragedies is human factor . It is often confused with pilot error, but these are two different categories of causes. The human factor is understood as the oversights and shortcomings of not only pilots, but also airport ground workers, which can also lead to air crashes. That is, if the controller incorrectly oriented the pilot, and he, in turn, could not land the plane, then this will be the human factor. As a result, hundreds of lives and another sad trace in history.

The second common reason is engine trouble . According to statistics, most air crashes occur during takeoff and landing. Perhaps that is why there is a tradition among passengers to applaud pilots after landing. It is believed that the first 1.5 minutes after takeoff are the most dangerous. After this time, the risk of a crash is reduced several times. In these seconds, in principle, anything can happen, but according to statistics, most tragedies happen as a result of engine problems.

Another common cause of air crashes is lack of fuel . It is for this reason that an impressive proportion of crashes occur during landing or in the last minutes of the flight. The aircraft simply stays in the air with empty fuel tanks. Of course, before departure, the transport undergoes a thorough check, including for the presence of a sufficient amount of fuel. However, a malfunction in the engine can lead to increased consumption, and as a result, premature emptying of the tanks.

And finally, one of the most "harmless" causes of air crashes is weather . The definition of "harmless" is chosen here because it is difficult to blame anyone for plane crashes for this reason. So, in 2007, a Tu-134 plane crashed at the Samara airport. The reason was adverse weather conditions and pilot error. The crash killed 6 people. The pilots survived and received various suspended sentences.

Act of terrorism occupy almost the last place in the ranking of the most common causes of aircraft crashes. On average, about 4% of all air crashes are caused by terrorists.

There are also quite unusual causes of crashes, for example, birds getting into the engine, collision with ground or air objects, etc. And on average, about 30% of accidents associated with air transport remain unsolved.

Why do people die

It would seem a rhetorical question: why do people die in a plane crash? In fact, death does not come to everyone and not immediately during the crash. As practice shows, it is possible to survive the collision of an aircraft with the ground. To do this, you must take the desired position and strictly follow the instructions. Of course, fractures and injuries are almost inevitable, but they are compatible with life.

Often passengers die while still in the air. These are the cases when a fire or depressurization occurs in the cabin. According to the specialists of the Federal Air Transport Agency, during the fall, a person is most often in an unconscious state. This is due to sharp pressure drops in different atmospheric layers and lack of air in the cabin.

It has been proven that about 40% of those killed in air crashes had a good chance of surviving. So what happened, and why didn't they seize those chances? Everything is simple - panic, confusion and banal ignorance of the basics of safety during a plane crash.

How to survive a plane crash

To the question - is it possible to survive in a plane crash, the previous part of the article fully answered. You can survive. But how to do that? Of course, each case is unique in its own way, and it is quite difficult to make a clear description of the behavior of a passenger in a disaster. But there are a few golden rules that will help you survive.

1. "Golden 90 Seconds" This period is important not only during take-off, but also during the fall. Experts say that after a plane crash, passengers have 90 seconds to get out of the cabin. After that, the salon will be completely engulfed in fire.
2. Correct position . There are two seating arrangements that reduce the risk of death and injury from a fall.

• First option: rest your hands on the back of the front seat, press your head tightly to your hands. The rest of the body should be in a normal sitting position.
• Second option: fully climb into the chair, bend your knees, clasp your legs with your hands and press your head to your knees.

1. The right clothes . Despite the fact that air transport is considered the safest of all types of passenger transport, it is preparing for possible accident recommended at the stage of collection. Comfortable shoes should be worn, without heels and platforms. Clothing should cover as much of the body as possible. The best option for a flight would be a denim suit - this material has fire-resistant properties, which will avoid burns.
2. Calm. This is perhaps the most important rule. If you give in to panic, then all other rules will be instantly forgotten, and actions will become chaotic and useless.
3. Selfishness. It is selfishness that will allow you to maintain composure and calm during a plane crash. This applies even to passengers with children. Do not immediately rush to save your children. Even if all security measures are taken for them, they most likely will not be able to independently attempt to get out of the cabin after a fall. Therefore, first of all, a parent or parents should take care of their safety, because by saving their lives, they get a chance to save their child.
4. Forget about personal things. Do not fuss and try to save your personal belongings. Even if there are all the savings and documents. All this will be restored. The main thing here is to save a life.

Aircraft Crash Procedure

If the plane began to crash due to some kind of malfunction, then an action plan has been developed for this case, which will significantly increase the chances of survival.

1. First of all, you need to arm yourself with an oxygen mask. Even if the depressurization of the cabin has not yet occurred, it should always be ready.
2. Hand luggage is recommended to be placed under the seat in front of the seated passenger. This will reduce the risk of being caught between the seat and the floor during shaking.
3. Follow the commands of the flight attendant or electronic scoreboard. The seat belts must remain fastened even if the display is off.
4. At the time of the fall, you must put on an oxygen mask and fix it on your head.
5. In the event of a fire or smoke in the cabin, it is necessary, if possible, to go lower and cover yourself with a thick cloth.
6. Keep an eye on all available exits. After landing the plane, you must immediately begin to move towards it, trying to avoid the crowd and littered aisles.
7. After exiting the cabin, it is necessary to move away from the aircraft as quickly and as far as possible.

What to do if the plane is hijacked by terrorists

When an aircraft is hijacked by terrorists, there are no specific procedures. Each such situation is unique, and none of the passengers can know about the intentions of the terrorists. Experts say that in this case it is necessary to remain calm. However, many remember the movie Flight 93, based on a true story, which tells the story of the passengers who thwarted the terrorists and possibly saved thousands of lives by changing the course of the plane.

For cases of terrorist acts, there are also several rules that are aimed at preserving the life and health of the hostages:

1. Do not engage in dialogue with the invaders. Do not negotiate and discuss with them, do not provoke them, do not shout, do not cry, do not make sudden movements and do not make sharp noises.
2. If someone was injured during the capture, try to give him first aid. If the terrorists do not allow this, then stop trying.
3. All movements must be smooth. If terrorists force hostages to move, then this must be done in strict accordance with their instructions.
4. If the assault began, then you should take a lying position, cover your head and ears with your hands. If possible, move closer to walls or corners.

What to do if the plane crashed into the water

When an aircraft crashes into open water, the same rules must be followed as when it crashes onto land. After the fall, you must immediately get out of the cabin and try to sail away from the aircraft. It is not recommended to jump into the water if there is no ladder. It is better to slide down the wings feet first, after typing in life vest air. If there is no land nearby, then help will have to be expected on the water. This is where the wreckage of the plane can come in handy, which will serve as a temporary raft. If there are no debris, then it is necessary to constantly move in the water in order to avoid hypothermia of the body.

All these tips and rules have been developed over the years. Many of them have already saved lives. So the rules of behavior when falling into the water helped in 2009 to survive the 13-year-old girl Baye Bakary.

Aviation accidents appeared along with aeronautics, but only by the 40s of the 20th century did these cases begin to be recorded. The rating includes people who survived plane crashes. 10 cases were considered when only one person survived from all the passengers.

10.Julianne Diller Koepke(December 24, 1971) - the only survivor of a plane crash, a seventeen-year-old girl . On that terrible night, she was on board a Peruvian airline liner with her parents. A thunderstorm began, and lightning struck the plane. The air car began to fall apart at an altitude of 3200 meters and fell into the rainforest. The piece that held Julianne's chair fell off while still in the air. He flew down through the raging elements and rotated in a circle at breakneck speed. The fragment, along with Julianne, landed on the crowns of trees, which saved the girl. Her collarbone was broken and there were numerous wounds. The survivor found the strength to get up and go to seek help. Having stumbled upon a stream in the jungle, she went down its stream. On the tenth day, Julianna went out to the settlement. The story of the heroic girl formed the basis of several feature films.

9.Vesna Vulovich(January 26, 1972) - A twenty-two-year-old flight attendant who survived a plane crash and got into the Guinness book for falling from a height of 10 kilometers without a parachute. At the moment when the airliner was flying over Czechoslovakia at an altitude of 10160 meters, an explosion occurred on the ship. The Yugoslav stewardess, by the will of fate, was on board that day - she replaced her colleague. The branches of the trees on which the girl had fallen softened the blow. Vulovich did not come to his senses for almost a month and spent a year and a half in a hospital bed. Despite this, the forced record holder was able to return to normal life and continued to work in aviation, but only in ground service.

8.Larisa Savitskaya - plane crash survivor twenty-year-old girl (August 24, 1981). Together with her husband, a young woman was returning home from her honeymoon. A bomber crashed into their An-24 plane over the city of Zavitinsky at an altitude of 5220 meters. All people in two planes (37 people) were killed. The girl was in the tail section of the broken AN-24. From a height of five thousand, Larisa fell on a large piece of debris. The fall lasted 8 minutes. A piece of the airliner, along with the victim, fell on birch plantations, which softened the force of the blow. Larisa, a plane crash survivor, spent two nights alone in the forest. Despite the concussion, numerous abrasions and injuries, she could move independently. Graves were prepared for all passengers, including Larisa. The search engines were taken aback when they saw her alive. The woman got into the Guinness Book of Records twice: as the only survivor of a plane crash and as a passenger who received the minimum compensation - 75 rubles.

7.George Lamson ( January 21, 1985) - the only survivor of a plane crash that occurred in the US state of Nevada. A seventeen-year-old boy was returning with his father on a Lockheed L-188 Electra aircraft with ski resort. Suddenly, the aircraft rolled heavily on one side and began to fall. George pulled his knees to his chest as the plane hit the ground. Together with the seat, it was carried out of the fuselage a moment before the explosion. It was this factor that saved the life of the young man. The cause of the tragedy, in which 70 people died, was a pilot error in assessing the situation, as a result of which the Lockheed L-188 Electra lost speed and fell.

6.Cecilia Sichan(August 16, 1989) is a four-year-old girl who survived a plane crash in Detroit that killed 154 people. The plane never managed to gain altitude. Even on takeoff, he caught the lighting tower with his wing, which caused it to fall off and catch fire. The liner moved to the right, and with the second wing it broke through the roof of the building. The aircraft simply fell apart into pieces, which were scattered over almost a kilometer area. Cecilia was found under the rubble by a firefighter. After numerous fractures and burns, the girl was able to recover. Cecilia's parents were victims of the same tragedy. Now the girl is not afraid to fly, believing that "the shell does not hit the same place twice."

5. Nine year old Erica Delgado ( January 11, 1995) was on the list of the only survivors of plane crashes thanks to her mother. Together with her family, she was on board, making a flight from Bogota to Cartagena (Colombia). Cause terrible disaster there was a malfunction of the instruments of the vessel, which crashed to the ground during the landing approach. At the time of the fall, the mother pushed the child out of the collapsing liner, and the girl fell into a lake overgrown with algae. She was rescued by a local farmer after hearing cries for help. Erica escaped with a broken arm, the rest of the passengers and crew members (52 people) died.

4.Yousef Jillali(March 6, 2003) - the only survivor of a plane crash that occurred in the city of Tamanrasset (Algeria). The Boeing 737-200 crashed on takeoff due to engine failure. Being in airspace Due to the ignition of the engine, the ship began to rapidly lose speed. The Boeing crashed in a rocky area, not far from the airfield and shattered into pieces. Of the 104 crew members, only the twenty-eight-year-old soldier Jillali managed to escape. The victim received multiple fractures and was in a coma. But a day later, the young man came to his senses, and his life was out of danger.

3. Sunday morning (August 27, 2006) in Kentucky, a fire broke out on board a Lexington-Atlanta flight. The car crashed a kilometer from the airport. All passengers and crew members (49 people) were killed. The fire was so intense that it was impossible to identify the bodies. Only the second forty-four-year-old pilot James Polehinka managed to escape. Firefighters pulled him out of the cab on fire. The cause of the accident was the pilots' use of a shorter runway. As a result of this, the air machine, having rammed an iron fence and crashed into a tree, collapsed and caught fire.

2. Thirteen Bahia Bakari- the only surviving passenger on the flight Paris - Comoros (June 30, 2009). A few minutes before landing, the aircraft began to rapidly fall and crashed into the waters. indian ocean. The girl cannot describe the circumstances of what happened, as she was sleeping. Presumably, she was thrown through the porthole. Bahia waited for 14 hours for help from rescuers, drifting in the open ocean on a wreck that did not sink. So she was the only survivor of 153 people.

1. Flight engineer Alexander Sizov - survivor of a plane crash that occurred on September 7, 2011 near Yaroslavl. On that fateful day, the Yak-42 aircraft was supposed to deliver the Lokomotiv hockey players to the match in the city of Minsk. Having skipped all runway, the plane began to rise from the ground, abruptly falling on the left wing. After that, the car collapsed, shattering into pieces, which were thrown several hundred meters in the area. Alexander came to himself only when he found himself in a river burning from kerosene. Despite numerous fractures and subsequent operations, the fifty-two-year-old passenger managed to survive. The cause of the tragedy that happened on board the Yak-42 was a crew error during takeoff.

On December 23, 2016, at the age of 66, the legendary stewardess Vesna Vulovich died, who in 1972 was present at the explosion in the cabin of the aircraft, and then fell along with the debris from a height of 10 km.

She received numerous fractures and injuries, fell into a coma for several days, but then recovered, entered the Guinness Book of Records and became a world celebrity.

On January 26, 1972, 22-year-old Vesna Vulovich flew from Stockholm to Belgrade on a Yugoslav Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32. When the plane flew over the German Hersdorf, he disappeared from the radar, and 46 minutes after takeoff exploded in the air. It is assumed that the bomb was carried on board by Croatian nationalists - the Ustashe. Debris fell near the village of Serbska Kamenice in Czechoslovakia.

Of the 28 people on board, only Vulovich survived. As a result of the fall, she received fractures of the base of the skull, three vertebrae, both legs and the pelvis, spent several days in a coma, but then woke up and first of all asked for a cigarette. Interestingly, by mistake of the airline, the girl got on the flight instead of another stewardess with the same name (Vesny Nikolic). By the time of the disaster, the flight attendant had not yet completed her training and was in the crew as a trainee.

What saved Vulovich, who spent three minutes in free fall? Perhaps the fact that she was squeezed in the tail of the plane, between the corpses and pieces of luggage. In addition, pine branches and a thick layer of snow softened the blow.

Her cries in the forest were heard by the forester Bruno Henke, who during the Second World War was a doctor. german army. He helped the girl hold out until the arrival of medical help.

Vulovich spent 10 months with paralysis of her lower body (from the waist to her legs). After that, she was treated for another six months, but then recovered and even asked to fly again on flights with JAT. She was turned down and instead given a job at the airline's office.

Such fearlessness is explained by the fact that Vesna did not remember either the accident or her salvation. In a 2008 interview, she admitted that she only remembers how she greeted passengers after taking off from Copenhagen, and then how she woke up in the hospital and saw her mother.

Vulovich became a national heroine: she was given a reception by Marshal Tito, which was then considered a great honor for a citizen of Yugoslavia. Songs were dedicated to the woman and she was invited to the most popular television shows. It became popular to name girls after a flight attendant who survived, as if it brought them good luck.

Vesna Vulovich used her fame for political purposes: she protested against the power of Slobodan Milosevic, and later campaigned for one of the parties in the elections.

The peak of international fame Vulovich came in 1985, when she was invited to London on behalf of the Guinness Book of Records. There, Vulovich received an award as a person who survived a fall without a parachute from maximum height. The prize was presented to the woman by musician Paul McCartney, the idol of her youth.
Vesna said that she was just as much a “survivor” as the other inhabitants of Serbia: “We Serbs are truly survivors. We have lived through communism, Tito, war, poverty, NATO bombings, sanctions and Milosevic. We just want a normal life."

On December 23, Vesna Vulović was found dead at her home in Belgrade after the police broke into the woman's apartment at the request of her friends, who were alarmed that she was not answering her calls. The cause of death is unknown, but, according to Vulovich's friends, her health has recently deteriorated.

Despite the fact that thousands of times more people die in car accidents every year than in plane crashes, the fear of flying lives in the mass consciousness. First of all, this is due to the scale of the tragedies - a crashed liner means tens and hundreds of simultaneous deaths. This is much more shocking than several thousand reports of fatal accidents stretched over a month.

The second reason for the fear of a plane crash is the realization of one's own helplessness and inability to somehow influence the course of events. Almost always this is true. However, the history of aeronautics has accumulated a small number of exceptions in which people survived by falling with the aircraft (or its wreckage) from a height of several kilometers without a parachute. These cases are so few that many of them have their own Wikipedia pages.

Wreckage Rider

Jugoslovenski Aerotransport (now Air Serbia) flight attendant Vesna Vulovic holds the world record for surviving a free fall without a parachute. She got into the Guinness Book of Records because she survived after the explosion of a DC-9 plane at an altitude of 10,160 meters.

At the time of the explosion, Vesna was working with passengers. She immediately lost consciousness, so she did not remember the moment of the disaster or its details. Because of this, the flight attendant did not have a fear of flying - she perceived all the circumstances from hearsay. It turned out that at the time of the destruction of the plane, Vulovich was squeezed between the seat, the body of another crew member and the trolley from the buffet. In this form, the debris fell onto the snow-covered mountainside and slid along it until it came to a complete stop.

Vesna remained alive, although she received serious injuries - she broke the base of her skull, three vertebrae, both legs and the pelvis. For 10 months, the girl was paralyzed in the lower part of her body, in general, the treatment took almost 1.5 years.

After recovering, Vulovich tried to return to her previous job, but she was not allowed to fly and was given a position in the airline's office.

Target selection

Surviving as Vesna Vulovich in a cocoon of debris is much easier than in a single free flight. However, in the second case there are surprising examples. One of them dates from 1943, when US military pilot Alan Magee flew over France in a B-17 heavy four-engine bomber. At an altitude of 6 km, he was thrown out of the plane, and the glass roof of the station slowed down the fall. As a result, Maggie fell to the stone floor, remained alive and was immediately taken prisoner by the shocked Germans.

A great fall target would be a large haystack. Several cases are known when people survived in plane crashes if densely growing bushes appeared on their way. A dense forest also gives some chances, but here there is a risk of running into branches.

The ideal option for a falling person would be snow or a swamp. A soft and compressible environment that absorbs the inertia gained in flight to the center of the earth, with good luck, can make injuries compatible with life.

There is almost no chance of survival when falling on the water surface. Water practically does not compress, so the result of contact with it will be the same as in a collision with concrete.

Salvation can sometimes bring the most unexpected objects. One of the main things skydiving enthusiasts are taught is to stay away from power lines. However, a case is known when it was a high-voltage line that saved the life of a skydiver who found himself in free flight due to an unopened parachute. He hit directly on the wires, bounced off and fell to the ground from a height of several tens of meters.

Pilots and children

Air crash survival statistics show that underage crew members and passengers are significantly more likely to cheat death. With pilots, the situation is clear - in their cockpit, passive safety systems are more reliable than those of other passengers.

Why children survive more often than others is not fully understood. However, several reliable reasons, the researchers of this issue have established:

• increased bone flexibility, general muscle relaxation and a greater percentage of subcutaneous fat that protects internal organs from injury like a pillow;
• small stature, due to which the head is covered by the back of the chair from flying debris. This is extremely important, since the main cause of death in air crashes is brain injuries;
• smaller body size, which reduces the likelihood of running into some sharp object at the time of landing.

Invincible Spiritual Power

A successful landing does not always mean a positive outcome. Not every miraculous survivor is instantly found by benevolent locals. For example, in 1971, over the Amazon at an altitude of 3,200 meters, a Lockheed Electra aircraft was destroyed due to a fire caused by lightning in the wing with a fuel tank. 17-year-old German woman Juliana Kopke woke up in the jungle, strapped to a chair. She was injured but could move.

The girl remembered the words of her biologist father, who said that even in the impenetrable jungle you can always find people if you follow the flow of water. Juliana went along the forest streams, gradually turning into rivers. With a broken collarbone, a bag of sweets and a stick, with which she dispersed stingrays in shallow water, the girl went out to people after 9 days. In Italy, this story was made into the film Miracles Still Happen (1974).

There were 92 people on board, including Kopke. Subsequently, it was found that in addition to her, 14 more people survived the fall. However, over the next few days, they all died before rescuers found them.

An episode from the film "Miracles Still Happen" saved the life of Larisa Savitskaya, who in 1981 flew with her husband from their honeymoon flight Komsomolsk-on-Amur - Blagoveshchensk. At an altitude of 5,200 meters, the passenger An-24 collided with a Tu-16K bomber.

Larisa and her husband were sitting in the tail of the plane. The fuselage broke right in front of her seat, and the girl was thrown into the aisle. At that moment, she remembered a movie about Julian Kopka, who, during the crash, got to the chair, pressed herself into it and survived. Savitskaya did the same. Part of the body of the aircraft, in which the girl remained, fell on a birch grove that softened the blow. She was in the fall for about 8 minutes. Larisa was the only survivor, she was seriously injured, but remained conscious and retained the ability to move independently.

The surname Savitskaya is inscribed twice in the Russian version of the Guinness Book of Records. She is listed as the person who survived after falling from the greatest height. The second record is rather sad - Larisa became the one who received the minimum compensation for physical damage. She was paid only 75 rubles - that's how much, according to the norms of the State Insurance, then it was supposed to survive in a plane crash.

Vesna Vulovich, Juliana Margaret Koepke, Lyudmila Savitskaya - these women from different countries combines one incredible circumstance. They all miraculously survived the plane crashes that occurred in different years. The stories of these three women involuntarily make you believe in miracles or in fate.

Vesna Vulovich

Vesna Vulovich is a stewardess of an aircraft that flew on January 26, 1972 on the route Stockholm - Copenhagen - Zagreb - Belgrade. At the time of the disaster, she was in the passenger cabin and instantly lost consciousness, and then for many years she remembered only the moment when she got on board.

The wreckage of the plane was scattered no more than a kilometer near the village of Serbska Kamenice in Czechoslovakia (now it is the territory of the Czech Republic). Later, experts will make the assumption that the plane crashed as a result of a terrorist attack, but the perpetrators will never be found.

Vesna was in a coma when she was found by local resident Bruno. He checked her pulse and immediately went for the rescuers. It was clear: the girl's spine was damaged and it was absolutely impossible to touch her. The stewardess suffered multiple severe injuries that nearly cost her her life.

She was in a coma for 27 days, and then there was a long recovery period, she spent 16 months in the hospital. Doctors were sure that she would remain disabled for life. But Vesna, contrary to all forecasts, got on her feet, after four and a half years she already walked normally and even returned to work at her airline. True, she was denied the right to fly, providing a position in the office. But she remembered the moment of the plane crash 25 years later.

It is believed that she was saved in the air by loss of consciousness and low pressure. Vesna Vulovich is a Guinness World Record holder who survived a fall from 10,120 meters.

Juliana Margaret Koepke

On December 24, 1971, 17-year-old Juliana, together with her mother, flew from Lima Jorge Chavez Airport to Iquitos. The plane was supposed to make an intermediate landing in Pucallpa and go further along the route. There were 92 people on board the LANSA plane. Juliana was looking forward to the Christmas holidays that she would spend with her father, organizing cards for different types of insects.

They were in the tail of the plane, admiring the wonderful views from the porthole. The plane began to enter the storm front, it began to shake violently. In a good way, as soon as danger arose, it was necessary to return to Lima, but both passengers and crew members were in a hurry to celebrate Christmas with their loved ones. The pilot made the wrong decision to continue flying, hoping to safely pass the danger zone.

Juliana was watching the propeller work when lightning hit that part of the plane. Everything that happened later, she recalled, like slow motion in a movie: here the plane falls apart, and she, fastened with a seat belt to her seat, begins her endless fall down. She remembered how she was spinning in the air, how rapidly the ground was approaching, and how she was swallowed along with the debris by the dense green crowns of trees on the ground. And only at the moment of contact with the ground the girl lost consciousness.

It took her a long time to come to her senses, the whole day. And then, being in shock, she did not even feel pain from her serious injuries. She had multiple cuts, she broke her collarbone, she had a torn popliteal ligament, she had all the signs of a concussion. She lost her glasses and could not see properly even with one eye, while the other was completely swollen due to a severe bruise on her face.

But having recovered a little and gathered her strength, Juliana realized that it was pointless to wait for help, the wreckage at the crash site was not visible to the search aircraft because of the dense greenery. She remembered the lessons of survival that her father had given her, and went downstream the stream she discovered in order to go out along it to the river and to people. Later, the examination will establish that at the time of the fall, at least 15 more passengers remained alive, but, unfortunately, they did not wait for the help of rescuers.

Juliana reached the empty lumberjack hut 10 days after the disaster. A day later, local residents found her under a canopy. They even mistook her for a water goddess descended from heaven. She was given first aid, fed and warmed, some of the fly larvae were removed from her wounds and floated down the river to the town of Turnavista, where they began to inject her with an antibiotic and completely cleaned the wounds from the worms that had settled there. From Turnavista, Juliana was transferred to the Pulcapa hospital, where she finally met her father.

In 1974, the feature film Miracles Still Happen will be released about her. This picture will help Larisa Savitskaya survive the plane crash.

Larisa Savitskaya

20-year-old Larisa was returning with her husband from their honeymoon to Blagoveshchensk on August 24, 1981. They sat in the tail of the plane, Larisa dozed off in her chair, then she felt a very strong push, and immediately after it, simply unbearable cold. She flew off a meter from her chair, and the frames of the film that she watched not so long ago appeared before her eyes. The heroine survived the plane crash. Larisa took this memory as a guide to action. She reached the chair by the porthole, clung to it with all her might, and flew down with him. It was this chair that ultimately saved her life. The crash occurred as a result of a collision with a military aircraft.

Her fall lasted 8 minutes. The blow was softened by the crowns of birches. Larisa was found on August 27 with serious injuries in a state of deep shock. She survived, learned to walk, and was even able to give birth to a son in 1986.

She received minimal compensation for damages - only 75 rubles. The very fact of this catastrophe was kept secret for many years. The girl's parents and Larisa herself were ordered not to tell anyone about the incident. Only after twenty the details of the terrible crash were made public, and Larisa Savitskaya was able to tell about that terrible day.

The film that helped Larisa Savitskaya survive - "Miracles still happen"

These three girls can be called almost lucky, they managed to survive. The mystery of the death in a plane crash of a young peacekeeper is still trying to unravel.