Her vertiginous fall more than 44 years ago had made her a true heroine all over the world.

In 1972, Vesna Vulovic, the Serbian air hostess, had miraculously survived a flight of the Serbian company JAT after falling more than 10,000 m.

She was found dead on Wednesday in her apartment in Belgrade.

The story of Vesna Vulovic had gone around the world.

His involuntary feat had even earned him a world record validated by the .

A jump that was not without consequences for the health of the 22-year-old Serb at the time.

DC-9 disintegrates over what was still called Czechoslovakia

The air hostess will later say that she should never have flown on this Copenhagen-Belgrade of January 26, 1972, since she had been confused with a namesake by her hierarchy, reported Wednesday, returning to this story outside standard.

After an hour of flight, the DC-9 had disintegrated over what was still called Czechoslovakia.

According to the official investigation, the explosion was caused by a bomb planted by a Croatian terrorist.

Then it will be for Vesna Vulovic and the black hole for Vesna Vulovic who does not remember anything.

Twenty-seven days in a coma

The only survivor among the 28 occupants of the aircraft, the hostess woke up in a hospital bed after twenty-seven days in a coma.

The free fall seriously injured her: two broken legs and ribs, fractured skull and several vertebrae, as well as crushed pelvis.

Difficult to explain how the one who became a national heroine could survive such a fall.

Unlike the other occupants of the plane, who would have been sucked out of the cabin, the air hostess would have been thrown to the rear of the aircraft and protected during her fall by part of the fuselage.

The snow would then have cushioned the fall of the piece of the plane in which she was.

Death of Vesna Vulovic, the greatest miracle in the history of air crashes https://t.co/VWZcLLr4hs

— The Parisian (@le_Parisian) December 29, 2016


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She had resumed service

While some are willing to accept this explanation, others believe that this story deserves a revision.

According to a counter-investigation dating from 2009, the explosion of the plane was due to a shot by the Czechoslovak army... at an altitude of less than 1,000 m and not more than 10,000 m as indicated by the investigation. official.

The fall of Vesna Vulovic would be less substantial, but her survival would be no less surprising.

Still, the stewardess endured six months in plaster and was hospitalized for more than a year… before quietly returning to service for another company.

  • Serbia

  • Crash

  • Record