How Vesna Vulovic Survived a 33,000-Foot Airplane Fall — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00on the evening of January 26 1972
2. 0:04Bruno honka a resident of a small
3. 0:06village in Czechoslovakia heard
4. 0:08something peculiar
5. 0:12screams emanating from a nearby Hillside
6. 0:16overcome by curiosity and concern hunka
7. 0:19decided to investigate
8. 0:21as he approached the hill he stumbled
9. 0:23upon a scene that would forever change
10. 0:24his life
11. 0:26the wreckage of an airplane torn apart
12. 0:28by an explosion lay before him
13. 0:30the devastating crash seemed to have
14. 0:32left no survivors but then he heard the
15. 0:34screams again
16. 0:38with adrenaline coursing through his
17. 0:39veins honky sprinted towards the noise
18. 0:41there amidst the debris he discovered a
19. 0:44woman wearing a blood-stained flight
20. 0:46attendants uniform her shoes were
21. 0:48missing but she was still alive
22. 0:51the woman's name was Vesna vulovic and
23. 0:54at that moment she had no idea that she
24. 0:56was about to make history
25. 0:57she was the only survivor of the plane
26. 1:00crash that had claimed the lives of 27
27. 1:02other people
28. 1:03what's more she had miraculously
29. 1:05survived a fall of 33 000 feet without a
30. 1:08parachute a feat that would earn her a
31. 1:10place in the record books
32. 1:13[Music]
33. 1:16vesnavulovich was a woman with a passion
34. 1:18for music and language
35. 1:20she held a special place in her heart
36. 1:22for the Beatles and would often sing
37. 1:24their songs with her friends
38. 1:26this sparked her interest in learning
39. 1:27English which she began studying in her
40. 1:29hometown of Belgrade
41. 1:31after a year of learning the language
42. 1:33Vesna decided to go to England to
43. 1:35further improve her skills
44. 1:37she initially stayed with her parents
45. 1:39friends in Newbury but she longed to be
46. 1:41in the bustling city of London
47. 1:43it was there that she met a friend who
48. 1:45suggested they traveled to Stockholm
49. 1:47however when Vesna shared her plans to
50. 1:50live in the Swedish Capital with her
51. 1:51parents they were concerned and urged
52. 1:54her to come home
53. 1:55they worried about the negative
54. 1:56stereotypes surrounding drugs and Sex in
55. 1:59the City
56. 2:00despite their concerns Vesna was
57. 2:03determined to see the world and make the
58. 2:04most of her time abroad
59. 2:06during her travels Vesna discovered the
60. 2:09exciting world of flight attendants
61. 2:11her friend was pursuing this career and
62. 2:13would get to travel the world as part of
63. 2:15her job
64. 2:16Vesna saw this as the perfect
65. 2:17opportunity to explore more of the world
66. 2:19and immerse herself in new cultures
67. 2:23Upon returning to Belgrade Vesna met a
68. 2:25friend who was a flight attendant for JT
69. 2:27Airlines
70. 2:28she was immediately drawn to the
71. 2:30attractive uniform and the stories of
72. 2:32her travels such as day trips to London
73. 2:35vesnavolovic's dream of becoming a
74. 2:37flight attendant and seeing the world
75. 2:38almost didn't happen
76. 2:40she had a history of low blood pressure
77. 2:42which made it unlikely that she would
78. 2:44pass the medical exam
79. 2:46yet Vesna refused to let her health stop
80. 2:48her from achieving her dreams
81. 2:50in a last-ditch effort she consumed
82. 2:52several cups of coffee before the exam
83. 2:54to raise her blood pressure
84. 2:56her strategy paid off and she was
85. 2:58accepted into the flight attendant
86. 3:00training program
87. 3:01however her unwavering determination led
88. 3:04her to pursue a career with jat Airways
89. 3:06yugoslavia's largest airline in 1971.
90. 3:09despite not having a permanent contract
91. 3:11Vesna was excited at the prospect of
92. 3:14exploring new places and immersing
93. 3:15herself in different cultures
94. 3:18after working as a flight attendant for
95. 3:20eight months Vesna received news that
96. 3:22she would be joining the crew of JT
97. 3:24flight 367.
98. 3:26the flight was scheduled to fly from
99. 3:28Stockholm to Belgrade via Copenhagen
100. 3:30however there was a mix-up the airline
101. 3:33had mistaken her for another attendant
102. 3:35with the same name
103. 3:36despite the confusion Vesna agreed to
104. 3:39join the crew of Flight 367 unaware of
105. 3:42the events that would change her life
106. 3:43forever
107. 3:44at the time though she viewed it as
108. 3:47another opportunity to travel and
109. 3:49explore a new country as she had never
110. 3:50been to Denmark before
111. 3:53vesnavulovic had been excited for her
112. 3:56unexpected layover in Copenhagen when
113. 3:58she boarded JT flight 367.
114. 4:01however her fellow crew members seemed
115. 4:03anxious and disheartened about the trip
116. 4:05ahead with their interests centered
117. 4:07around shopping and relaxing in the
118. 4:08hotel
119. 4:10although Vesna had hoped to sightsee and
120. 4:12explore the city she decided to go along
121. 4:14with the group's plans and join them on
122. 4:16their shopping Excursion
123. 4:18despite her disappointment she tried to
124. 4:21make the most of the time she had in
125. 4:22Copenhagen
126. 4:24next day after usual procedure in the
127. 4:26passengers and previous crew deplaned 28
128. 4:28new passengers and vesna's crew boarded
129. 4:31the flight took off at 3 15 pm
130. 4:38but disaster struck 46 minutes into the
131. 4:41flight when an explosion occurred in one
132. 4:43of the baggage compartments causing the
133. 4:45plane to split in two
134. 4:47the aircraft plummeted 33 330 feet to
135. 4:51the ground in serbska kamenice
136. 4:53Czechoslovakia
137. 4:55an investigation later revealed that the
138. 4:57cause of the explosion was a briefcase
139. 4:58bomb planted by the ustazi a Croatian
140. 5:01separatist group seeking independence
141. 5:03from Yugoslavia
142. 5:05during the flight an air traffic
143. 5:07controller reportedly tried to contact
144. 5:09the crew after being alerted to a
145. 5:11potential bomb on the plane
146. 5:13however the crew did not respond and the
147. 5:15plane continued its course until it
148. 5:17vanished from radar in czechoslovak
149. 5:19airspace
150. 5:20Vesna later recalled seeing a man who
151. 5:22looked terribly annoyed when all the
152. 5:24passengers and crew deplaned in
153. 5:25Copenhagen after flying from Stockholm
154. 5:28she and other crew members in the
155. 5:30station manager in Copenhagen noticed
156. 5:32his behavior and Vesna wondered if he
157. 5:34could be the person who planted the bomb
158. 5:36that destroyed the plane
159. 5:38although there is no certainty Vesna
160. 5:41thinks that he had checked in a bag in
161. 5:42Stockholm got off in Copenhagen and
162. 5:45never returned to the flight
163. 5:47the Croatian nationalist group
164. 5:49responsible for the tragic event had a
165. 5:51history of carrying out terrorist
166. 5:53attacks in Yugoslavia with over 100
167. 5:55incidents attributed to them between the
168. 5:571960s and 1980s an anonymous member even
169. 6:01claimed responsibility for the bombing
170. 6:03in a phone call to a Swedish newspaper
171. 6:05despite this no arrests were made
172. 6:09in the aftermath of the disaster Vesna
173. 6:12expressed her fear that she may have
174. 6:13seen the man responsible for planting
175. 6:15the bomb leading to the police guarding
176. 6:17her hospital room door and allowing only
177. 6:19her parents and doctors to enter
178. 6:22miraculously Vesna was the sole survivor
179. 6:25of the crash and it was fortunate that
180. 6:27honka a former Medic in World War II was
181. 6:30the one who found her his experience and
182. 6:32knowledge proved critical in keeping her
183. 6:34alive until Rescuers arrived
184. 6:37sustained severe injuries from the fall
185. 6:39including two broken legs three broken
186. 6:41vertebrae a fractured pelvis broken ribs
187. 6:44and a fractured skull
188. 6:46overcoming these injuries alone would
189. 6:48have been a tremendous challenge but
190. 6:50Vesna also suffered a brain hemorrhage
191. 6:52and total amnesia
192. 6:54she was taken to a hospital in Prague
193. 6:56where she remained in a coma for several
194. 6:58weeks
195. 6:59her injuries were so severe that even
196. 7:01her doctors were unsure if she would
197. 7:03survive
198. 7:04but Vesna was a fighter and gradually
199. 7:06she began to recover
200. 7:09eventually she regained Consciousness
201. 7:11but her memory was completely wiped
202. 7:13when asked what had happened Vesna
203. 7:15couldn't provide an answer
204. 7:17she had no memory from an hour before
205. 7:19the accident until almost a month later
206. 7:21initially the only memory she had was
207. 7:24greeting passengers before the flight
208. 7:26the rest was a complete mystery
209. 7:28after waking up from her four-week coma
210. 7:30her first request was for a cigarette
211. 7:33in addition to the Amnesia she had
212. 7:35sustained injuries that could have
213. 7:36easily led to paralysis or death
214. 7:39yet incredibly within 10 months of the
215. 7:42Fall she was able to walk again
216. 7:45vesnar's incredible recovery amazed the
217. 7:47doctors despite suffering extensive
218. 7:50injuries and spending a year and a half
219. 7:51in the hospital she was able to walk
220. 7:53again
221. 7:54while the medical team was thrilled with
222. 7:56her progress they were also perplexed as
223. 7:59they had never seen anything like it
224. 8:00before
225. 8:01Vesna herself attributed her speedy
226. 8:04recovery to her childhood diet which
227. 8:06consisted of a lot of chocolate spinach
228. 8:08and fish oil
229. 8:09she believed that these Foods played a
230. 8:11significant role in her ability to heal
231. 8:14air safety investigators believe that
232. 8:16vesna's position within the aircraft at
233. 8:18the time of the blast was a factor that
234. 8:20helped her survive the fall
235. 8:22she had been in the rear of the plane
236. 8:24with a food cart when the fuselage broke
237. 8:26apart after the explosion while many
238. 8:29passengers were sucked out of the plane
239. 8:30Vesna was pinned by the cart
240. 8:33the small section she was in then fell
241. 8:35to the ground
242. 8:37the heavily wooded snow-covered Hillside
243. 8:39that she landed on also cushioned her
244. 8:41fall
245. 8:42her doctors agreed with the air
246. 8:43investigators conclusions and added
247. 8:46their own Theory
248. 8:47they claimed that the very thing that
249. 8:49almost kept volvic from being a flight
250. 8:50attendant is what ultimately saved her
251. 8:53life
252. 8:54they believed that it was vesna's low
253. 8:56blood pressure that kept her heart from
254. 8:57bursting on impact when she hit the
255. 8:59Mountainside
256. 9:01she lost Consciousness during her free
257. 9:02fall
258. 9:04after surviving the unimaginable
259. 9:06vesnavulovic became somewhat of a
260. 9:08sensation
261. 9:09her story made headlines across the
262. 9:11globe and in 1985 she even made it into
263. 9:14the Guinness book of records for the
264. 9:15highest fall survived without a
265. 9:17parachute
266. 9:19she received her medal at a ceremony in
267. 9:21London where she was honored by none
268. 9:23other than Paul McCartney himself
269. 9:26despite her incredible recovery Vesna
270. 9:28was not able to resume her job as a
271. 9:30flight attendant due to the numerous
272. 9:32Health complications caused by her
273. 9:33injuries
274. 9:35however she was offered an office-based
275. 9:37job where she negotiated Freight
276. 9:38contracts
277. 9:40due to her Amnesia vesnavulovic had no
278. 9:42recollection of the crash or the
279. 9:44explosion and maintained her love of
280. 9:46flying and sense of adventure
281. 9:48she continued to fly as a passenger
282. 9:50until her death in 2016 at the age of
283. 9:5366.
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