Flight Attendant's Miraculous Survival from 33,000 Feet Sets Enduring Record

On January 26, 1972, Yugoslav Airlines Flight 364 broke apart at 10,160 metres above the Bohemian countryside, scattering debris and passengers across the snow-covered landscape. Among the 28 people aboard, cabin attendant Vesna Vulovic found herself trapped within a section of fuselage that plummeted toward earth. The DC-9 aircraft had been en route from Stockholm to Split when structural failure sent it into an uncontrolled descent.

Vulovic regained consciousness in a hospital bed two weeks after the incident, unable to remember the details of her extraordinary fall. Medical examination revealed she had sustained serious injuries including a fractured skull, two broken legs, and three broken ribs. Nevertheless, her body's remarkable capacity for recovery saw her gradually return to health over the following months, defying the grim odds facing anyone subjected to such trauma.

The incident was investigated as a potential bombing, though the exact cause of the aircraft's structural failure was never conclusively determined. Vulovic's survival at such extreme altitude—where oxygen levels and temperatures are lethal—remained scientifically remarkable. In recognition of this extraordinary feat, Guinness World Records documented her case as the highest-altitude survival without a parachute, a distinction she has maintained for over five decades and continues to hold today.