How Juliane Koepcke Survived A Plane Crash And 11 Days Alone In The Amazon — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00On December 24, 1971, LANSA 508 from Lima to Pucallpa, Peru
2. 0:06was struck by lightning.
3. 0:07Now considered the deadliest lightning strike
4. 0:09in aviation history, it caused a crash
5. 0:12that ultimately led to the demise of everyone onboard,
6. 0:15except for one 17-year-old girl.
7. 0:18Today, we're going to explain how Juliane Koepcke survived
8. 0:21a plane crash and 11 days alone in the Amazon.
9. 0:24But before we get started, be sure to subscribe
10. 0:26to the Weird History Channel.
11. 0:27And while you're at it, leave a comment
12. 0:29and let us know what stories of survival
13. 0:31you would like to hear more about.
14. 0:32OK, we go to the skies over Peru.
15. 0:36Koepcke's hazy disjointed recollections
16. 0:39of the flight and the crash are nothing short of pure nightmare
17. 0:42fuel.
18. 0:43It was the day after her senior prom
19. 0:45and just a few hours after her high school graduation
20. 0:47ceremony.
21. 0:48She was flying with her mother between Pucallpa and Lima
22. 0:51so they could celebrate with her father.
23. 0:52Along the way, the plane encountered a storm.
24. 0:55The sky became pitch black all around them.
25. 0:57And lightning was constantly flashing outside the windows.
26. 1:01While her mother was concerned, Juliane, who loved to fly,
27. 1:04didn't think much of it.
28. 1:05Suddenly, there was a bright light on the wing.
29. 1:07And her mother said, now, it's over.
30. 1:10The engine roared.
31. 1:11People screamed.
32. 1:12The plane plunged sharply towards the ground
33. 1:14and began to break apart.
34. 1:16Juliane's mother was thrown from her seat.
35. 1:18Finally, Juliane, along with her seat bench,
36. 1:21was sucked from the fuselage and out into the sky.
37. 1:24Koepcke says she felt a calming wind
38. 1:26as she plummeted toward the thick forest canopy, which
39. 1:29she later recalled as resembling green cauliflower or broccoli.
40. 1:32Her seat, which she was still belted to,
41. 1:34rotated like a helicopter blade.
42. 1:36She suspects this may have played a role in slowing
43. 1:39her descent and that the seat itself
44. 1:41must have cushioned her fall.
45. 1:43Yeah, think about that the next time a flight attendant
46. 1:46reminds you to buckle up.
47. 1:49Juliane blacked out before impact.
48. 1:51And due to a concussion, she retains no memory
49. 1:53of the next 20 hours or so.
50. 1:55She suspects she must have awakened during this period
51. 1:58and removed her seat belt because it was off
52. 2:00by the time she fully regained consciousness.
53. 2:02It was 9:00 AM the morning after the crash.
54. 2:05In fact, she could tell thanks to her watch,
55. 2:06which at this point was still functioning.
56. 2:09It was also pouring rain.
57. 2:10Koepcke was soaking wet, dirty, and partially
58. 2:13underneath her seat bench.
59. 2:14She crawled fully under to escape the rain while she
60. 2:17regained her strength.
61. 2:18According to Koepcke, I couldn't really feel anything.
62. 2:21It was like being wrapped in cotton balls.
63. 2:23With a lot of effort, I could only get up on my knees.
64. 2:26And then everything turned black again.
65. 2:27It would be a full day and a half
66. 2:29before she was able to get up and walk.
67. 2:32Juliane could tell her collarbone was badly broken.
68. 2:35It was a sharp break that was overlapping beneath her skin
69. 2:38but luckily had not punctured through.
70. 2:41She also had a deep laceration on her calf.
71. 2:43But because she was in shock, it wasn't bleeding too much.
72. 2:46Another cut on her arm had become infected with maggots.
73. 2:49She feared that this might mean the arm would eventually
74. 2:51have to be amputated.
75. 2:52But at this point, there was nothing she could do about it.
76. 2:55Doctors would later discover she also fractured her shin,
77. 2:58strained her vertebra, and tore her ACL.
78. 3:01Likely due to the effects of adrenaline,
79. 3:03she didn't feel any of those things until much later
80. 3:05after she had reached a hospital.
81. 3:08Once she felt strong enough, Juliane
82. 3:10forced herself to her feet.
83. 3:12Most people would probably be terrified to find themselves
84. 3:14alone and injured in the middle of a jungle teeming
85. 3:17with snakes, crocodiles, and all manner of poisonous flora
86. 3:20and fauna.
87. 3:21But Juliane Koepcke had a very unique childhood.
88. 3:24Her mother, a world-renowned ornithologist, and her father,
89. 3:27a famous zoologist, worked at a research station in--
90. 3:31would you believe it--
91. 3:32a Peruvian rainforest.
92. 3:33Yes, Juliane had been raised in a very similar area.
93. 3:36And her familiarity with the types of terrain
94. 3:38was a major factor in her survival.
95. 3:41It also meant she never became overly afraid of her situation.
96. 3:44Koepcke herself mused, I learned a lot about life
97. 3:46in the rainforest.
98. 3:47And it wasn't too dangerous.
99. 3:49It's not the green hell that the world always thinks.
100. 3:52No.
101. 3:52Juliane wasn't afraid for herself.
102. 3:54She was afraid for her mother.
103. 3:57Once she was able, Koepcke began to scout the area immediately
104. 4:00around her crash site for other survivors and resources.
105. 4:03She was careful to leave a trail since she knew how easy it
106. 4:06was to get lost in the jungle.
107. 4:08On the fourth day after the crash,
108. 4:09she heard a sound she recognized as a king vulture landing
109. 4:12in the forest.
110. 4:13She knew from her ornithologist mother
111. 4:15that this particular type of vulture
112. 4:17only landed when carrion or rotting flesh was
113. 4:20in the immediate vicinity.
114. 4:21Following the sound, she discovered the remains
115. 4:23of three other passengers.
116. 4:25Still strapped to their seats, they
117. 4:27had impacted the ground with such force
118. 4:29that they were buried 3 feet deep with only
119. 4:31their feet remaining visible.
120. 4:32One of the victims was a woman.
121. 4:34And Koepcke initially feared it might be her mother.
122. 4:37However, poking her with a stick,
123. 4:38she was able to discern that the woman had painted toenails,
124. 4:41which her mother did not.
125. 4:44During those first few days, Koepcke
126. 4:45would occasionally hear the sounds of rescue planes
127. 4:48overhead.
128. 4:48Because the forest canopy was so thick,
129. 4:50she wasn't able to see them.
130. 4:52More frustratingly, she could not get their attention.
131. 4:54Eventually, the sounds of the planes disappeared.
132. 4:57And she realized they were no longer searching for survivors.
133. 5:00She would later describe these as her most hopeless moments.
134. 5:03And she realized she would have to rely
135. 5:05on herself if she was going to escape the rainforest alive.
136. 5:09Finding water was as simple as licking droplets off leaves.
137. 5:12But finding food was no easy task.
138. 5:15She didn't have the tools necessary to fish or hack
139. 5:18at edible stems and roots.
140. 5:19And she knew a great deal of what else
141. 5:21grew in the rainforest was poisonous.
142. 5:23Though it wasn't much, Koepcke had
143. 5:24been lucky enough to discover a bag of candy
144. 5:26near where she landed.
145. 5:28That candy would be her only sustenance.
146. 5:30And she rationed it carefully, eating just a couple
147. 5:32of pieces each day.
148. 5:34Once it was gone, she experienced extreme hunger.
149. 5:37At one point, Juliane briefly considered
150. 5:39trying to catch and eat some wild frogs she had spotted
151. 5:41but discovered she was too weak and slow to get them.
152. 5:44This ultimately turned out to be a good thing since she later
153. 5:47learned they were venomous dart frogs that
154. 5:49likely would have ended her.
155. 5:51Juliane searched the area she landed and for other survivors.
156. 5:54But she didn't find any.
157. 5:56She did, however, find a small well.
158. 5:58It reminded her of some advice her father had given her
159. 6:01as a child.
160. 6:01He told her if she was ever lost in the jungle,
161. 6:03she should follow the water sources to find rescue.
162. 6:06The idea was that each tiny stream
163. 6:08would lead to a bigger one and eventually to one big enough
164. 6:10to be a water source for potential rescuers.
165. 6:13Juliane has stated that had she found other survivors,
166. 6:15she probably would have stayed put and waited with them.
167. 6:18In hindsight, she realized that likely
168. 6:20would have cost her her life.
169. 6:22Without anyone else to wait with,
170. 6:23she decided to start at the well and follow the water.
171. 6:27Progress was slow and difficult. Koepcke
172. 6:30was wearing only a short sleeveless mini
173. 6:32dress, which made the nights very cold for her.
174. 6:35Her watch had also stopped working,
175. 6:36which meant she had to keep a close eye on the sun
176. 6:38to tell time.
177. 6:39She was also missing a shoe, which
178. 6:41was particularly worrisome, given
179. 6:43that she knew there were snakes that
180. 6:44liked to camouflage themselves among the leaves on the forest
181. 6:47floor.
182. 6:48Complicating things even further was the fact
183. 6:50that she had also lost her glasses in the plane crash.
184. 6:53Taken together, all this meant that she had to constantly use
185. 6:56her remaining shoe to probe the path ahead of her
186. 6:58before she could take even one step.
187. 7:01Eventually, the creek she was following
188. 7:02became deep enough to walk in.
189. 7:04Despite the fact that Koepcke could see crocodiles slipping
190. 7:07in and out of the water, she knew they seldom
191. 7:09bothered humans and that by traveling by water
192. 7:11was ultimately safer than traveling by land.
193. 7:14As she followed the water, Koepcke
194. 7:16noticed that the way was often blocked by logs--
195. 7:18a sign that the area wasn't well traveled and might not
196. 7:21lead her to rescuers.
197. 7:22Blocking these discouraging thoughts out,
198. 7:24Juliane continued on.
199. 7:26Then on the 10th day after the crash of LANSA flight 508,
200. 7:29Koepcke spotted a boat.
201. 7:30At first, she thought she was hallucinating.
202. 7:32But she moved toward it and found herself actually
203. 7:35able to touch it.
204. 7:36Once she determined the boat was real, her adrenaline kicked in.
205. 7:40Near the riverbank where she spotted the boat,
206. 7:42Koepcke saw a path leading up into the forest.
207. 7:44Assuming her rescuers had gone in that direction,
208. 7:47she tried to make her own way up the path.
209. 7:49By this point, she was so weak she could only crawl.
210. 7:52Even worse, the maggots that had infected
211. 7:54the cut on her right arm were causing her intense pain,
212. 7:56as they tried to burrow further into the wound.
213. 7:59Luckily at the top of the path, she
214. 8:00came across a small hut that had a can of gasoline in it.
215. 8:03She recalled that in her childhood,
216. 8:05her father had used kerosene to treat
217. 8:07a dog who had a similar wound.
218. 8:08Juliane sucked the gasoline from the can
219. 8:11and applied it to her wound.
220. 8:12The pain was intense, but it worked.
221. 8:15She removed 30 maggots herself.
222. 8:17Her rescuers would later remove another 50.
223. 8:20But thanks to this quick-thinking action,
224. 8:22she never had to lose her arm.
225. 8:24With no one else in sight, Koepcke
226. 8:26tried to sleep in the hut under a tarp
227. 8:27but found the ground too hard.
228. 8:29She returned to the riverbank and spent the night there.
229. 8:32In the morning, she returned to the hut.
230. 8:34This time, she was discovered by three Peruvian men.
231. 8:36They were confused by her presence
232. 8:38and frightened by her bloodshot eyes and blond hair.
233. 8:41Koepcke later explained they believe in all sorts of ghosts
234. 8:44there.
235. 8:44And at first they thought it was one of these water
236. 8:46spirits called Yemania.
237. 8:48They are blond supposedly.
238. 8:49Luckily, Juliane spoke fluent Spanish
239. 8:51and was able to explain her situation to them
240. 8:53in their own language.
241. 8:54The next day these men took her downstream in their boat
242. 8:57to a nearby town where she was able to get treatment
243. 8:59at a local hospital.
244. 9:00Juliane was the only survivor of LANSA a flight 508.
245. 9:04But it's interesting to note the crash almost claimed one more.
246. 9:07Film Director Werner Herzog was almost on the flight.
247. 9:10But a last-minute change in plans
248. 9:11caused him to cancel his reservations.
249. 9:14Inspired by this twist of fate, he
250. 9:16would later create the documentary Wings of Hope
251. 9:18to tell the incredible tale of Juliane Koepcke's survival.
252. 9:22Do you think you could survive what Juliane did?
253. 9:24Let us know in the comments below.
254. 9:26And while you're at it, check out some of these other videos
255. 9:28from our Weird History.
256. 9:29[MUSIC PLAYING]