On January 26, 1972, flight attendant Vesna Vulović was working aboard JAT Yugoslav Airlines Flight 367, traveling from Stockholm toward Belgrade. The aircraft was flying over what is now the Czech Republic when it suddenly broke apart in midair. The disaster killed everyone else aboard. Vulović survived.

She was found alive among the wreckage after falling thousands of meters without a parachute. Guinness World Records recognizes her as the person who survived the highest fall without a parachute, traditionally recorded as approximately 10,160 meters (33,333 feet).

But the exact altitude has become one of the most controversial parts of the story. Later investigations questioned the official reconstruction of the accident, suggesting that Flight 367 may have been flying at a substantially lower altitude when it broke apart. Nevertheless, Vulović’s survival itself is not seriously disputed.

Her survival appears to have depended on an extraordinary combination of circumstances. She was trapped inside part of the fuselage, which reportedly landed on a steep, forested, snow-covered hillside. The wreckage absorbed some of the impact, while the terrain and winter conditions may have helped reduce the force of the crash.

Vulović suffered multiple fractures and severe internal injuries and spent months recovering. Remarkably, she eventually walked again and later returned to work for the airline.