1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,679 Speaker 1: All right, we've been hearing about the Alaska Airlines jet 2 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: that had a whole side panel blow off the plane. Right. Well, 3 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 1: fortunately no one was sucked out with it. But imagine 4 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:12,720 Speaker 1: falling from the sky when there's a terrorist attack at 5 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: thirty five thousand feet. I'm Patty Steele. How one woman 6 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: survived the biggest free fall in history. That's next on 7 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: the backstory. We're back with the backstory. The story of 8 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,200 Speaker 1: an entire wall panel blowing out of an Alaska Airlines 9 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: jet recently kind of gives you the chills, right you 10 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: think about what it would be like to be sucked 11 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: out of the aircraft and literally fall through the sky. Actually, 12 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:43,840 Speaker 1: you don't want to think about that. Well, it happened 13 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:46,880 Speaker 1: to one woman and she survived. It was fifty two 14 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: years ago. It's January twenty sixth, nineteen seventy two. Vesnavolovich 15 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: is just twenty two years old. She's a flight attendant 16 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: on job Yugoslav Airlines and by the way, a huge 17 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: Beatles fan. Flight three sixty seven is headed from Sweden 18 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: to Denmark, then to Croatia and finally on to Serbia, 19 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: which is Vesna's home country. She's asked to head to Copenhagen, Denmark, 20 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: to help replace the crew that flew there from Sweden. 21 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:18,959 Speaker 1: She is delighted. She's excited to visit Copenhagen and to 22 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: stay in a Sheridan hotel. How funny enough, she actually 23 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: wasn't supposed to be on the flight, but the person 24 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: doing the rotations for the flight attendants mistakenly put her 25 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: on the schedule instead of another woman also named Vesna. 26 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,399 Speaker 1: So the DC nine takes off from Copenhagen with twenty 27 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: eight people on board, twenty three passengers and five crew members, 28 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: including three flight attendants, the captain and co pilot. It's 29 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:48,279 Speaker 1: just after four pm, forty six minutes into the flight 30 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: and the jet is now over Czechoslovakia. Vesna is taking 31 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: care of passengers near the center of the jet. Suddenly 32 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: there's a massive explosion. Investigators later say they believe a 33 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: bomb had been placed in the baggage compartment by Croatian nationalists, 34 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: but no one was ever arrested. Anyway, the plane is 35 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 1: blown into three pieces. Now as the cabin depressurizes, the 36 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: passengers and other flight crew are sucked out of the 37 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 1: plane into freezing temperatures falling over thirty three thousand feet 38 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: to their deaths. So how did Vesna survive well? Investigators 39 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 1: say she was apparently trapped in a section of the plane, 40 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 1: probably pinned into the area by the drink's trolley, that 41 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: prevented her from being sucked out like the others. Next 42 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:37,799 Speaker 1: the part of the plane she was in separated from 43 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: the rest of it and hurtled toward the ground. In 44 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 1: a heavily wooded area of the Czechoslovakian countryside. A crash 45 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: landed in thick snow on a slope at just the 46 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: perfect angle, and that's most likely what saved Vesna's life. Later, 47 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: her doctor said that her low blood pressure probably caused 48 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,800 Speaker 1: her to quickly pass out when the cabin dean pressurized, 49 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 1: and that prevented her heart from bursting on impact. How 50 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:09,840 Speaker 1: was she rescued well. Vesna was found screaming inside the wreckage, 51 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,359 Speaker 1: with another crew member dead on top of her. Luckily, 52 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: the person who found her was a former World War 53 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:18,400 Speaker 1: Two medic, so he was able to give her the 54 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: first aide she needed. Even before rescuers arrived, she was 55 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,080 Speaker 1: in rough shape, though she fell into a coma for 56 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 1: a number of days, and she broke most of the 57 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: bones in her body. Her skull was fractured and she 58 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: had a cerebral hemorrhage. Three of her ribs were broken, 59 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 1: so were both legs, several vertebrae, as well as her pelvis, 60 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 1: and though she was paralyzed from the waist down, after 61 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: ten months she was able to walk again, but with 62 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: a bit of a limp. She attributed her recovery, she said, 63 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: to her Serbian stubbornness and a childhood diet that included chocolate, spinach, 64 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: and fish oil. Vesna said she had no memory of 65 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: the flight itself or the crash. She only remember boarding 66 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,680 Speaker 1: the plane and seeing some women cleaning it, and then 67 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: waking up in the hospital. But she did remember before 68 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: boarding that one really grumpy passenger had checked his bag 69 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: for the connecting flight but never boarded the plane. She 70 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:19,919 Speaker 1: believes that the bomb was placed inside his bag. Now amazingly, 71 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: she eventually returned to work for the airline. She actually 72 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 1: had no worries about flying after the crash, probably because 73 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:29,440 Speaker 1: she didn't remember it. She wanted to go back to 74 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:32,720 Speaker 1: work as a flight attendant, but JOT Airlines gave her 75 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: a desk job negotiating freight contracts because they thought her 76 00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:40,159 Speaker 1: presence on flights would kind of attract too much publicity. 77 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: Vesna became a celebrity in Serbia and was considered a 78 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: national hero that actually served her well. She was fired 79 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:51,279 Speaker 1: from the airline in the early nineties after she became 80 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: a pro democracy activist and protested Serbia's vicious dictator. Fortunately, 81 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 1: she avoided arrest because the government was worried about getting 82 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 1: negative publicity by putting a national hero in prison. Eventually, 83 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 1: that government fell and she continued to campaign for a 84 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,919 Speaker 1: democratic government. She told The New York Times, I'm like 85 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: a cat. I've had nine lives, but if nationalist forces 86 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: in this country prevail, my heart will burst. The politics 87 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,719 Speaker 1: in this country are making me tired. My heart can't 88 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: take much more. I've had enough. In nineteen eighty five, 89 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: the Guinness Book of World Records recognized Vesna as the 90 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:34,680 Speaker 1: world record holder for surviving the highest fall without a 91 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:39,239 Speaker 1: parachute thirty three thousand, three hundred thirty feet or six 92 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: point three miles. She did get married at one point, 93 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,720 Speaker 1: but all of the injuries and treatments led to some 94 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: complicated pregnancies, and she never had any children. She told 95 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 1: reporters she didn't think about her fall every day, but 96 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:56,920 Speaker 1: she did admit she struggled with survivor's guilt. Vesna said, 97 00:05:57,200 --> 00:05:59,919 Speaker 1: whenever I think of the accident, I have a prevail, 98 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,799 Speaker 1: grave feeling of guilt for surviving it, and I cry 99 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,160 Speaker 1: sometimes and then I think maybe I shouldn't have survived 100 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: at all. She turned down therapy to help her deal 101 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: with her issues. Instead, she got interested in religion, becoming 102 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: a devout Orthodox Christian. After that, she said her ordeal 103 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,359 Speaker 1: had turned her into an optimist. She said, if you 104 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: can survive what I survived, you can survive anything. But 105 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:29,479 Speaker 1: she also got kind of reclusive and only occasionally granted interviews. 106 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 1: In fact, she turned down a lot of requests to chat, 107 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:37,479 Speaker 1: including those from the BBC and notably Oprah Winfrey. Wow 108 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: that's kind of a difficult no, wouldn't you say, she says. 109 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: She just told them she was tired of discussing her 110 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:48,599 Speaker 1: fall from the sky. Vesna Vulovich eventually died in twenty 111 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 1: sixteen from heart issues, possibly because she spent years as 112 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:55,920 Speaker 1: a chainsmoker, which, by the way, she said led to 113 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:59,719 Speaker 1: her divorce. She was sixty six years old, but she 114 00:06:59,839 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 1: is remembered as the ultimate survivor I'd like to thank 115 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: Will Kushner for suggesting this story in the aftermath of 116 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: the Alaska Airlines event. And if you have an idea 117 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: for a story you'd like me to take a deeper 118 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 1: dive into, feel free to reach out to me via 119 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: direct message on Instagram at Real Patty Steele or on 120 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: Facebook at Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a 121 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group, and 122 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser, our writer 123 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 1: Jay Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. 124 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: Feel free to reach out to me with comments and 125 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and 126 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,000 Speaker 1: on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the 127 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces of history you didn't 128 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 1: know you needed to know.