33,330 ft fall without a parachute and lives!!!

[THE BOUNCER]

Highest Fall Survived Without A Parachute
Vesna Vulovic, a flight attendant from Yugoslavia, survived a fall from 10,160 m (33,330 ft) when the DC-9 airplane she was traveling in blew up over Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic), on January 26, 1972. A terrorist bomb was thought to be the cause, and no other passengers survived. Vesna broke both legs and was temporarily paralyzed from the waist down.

Vesna remembers nothing, but later learned that a former nurse, Bruno Henke, saw Vesna's legs sticking out of the fuselage. Bruno cleared Vesna's airways before rushing her to hospital. Three days later she awoke from a coma in a hospital in Ceska, Karmenice.

She says, "I was so lucky to have survived! I hit the earth – not the trees, not the snow, but the frozen ground." Strangely, the first words she uttered, "Can I have a cigarette," were in English!

Luckily, she suffered no psychological trauma, and no fear of flying. Prevented from returning to her job, she forged a new career in administration. "I was able to fly over the world for free," she says. Her experience has helped her form a philosophical attitude towards life. "I believe we are masters of our lives - we hold all the cards and it is up to us to use them right."

[gearjunky]

This is hard to believe , not saying i dont!

[beefcake]

I've heard stories of people surviving falls but in conditions to where they died later, but to fall and ultimately survive with only temp paralysis? She must have done something right in life.

[gearjunky]

she was probably the terrorist and set up the plane on fire her self and jumped out with a parachute and hid it

[Jarconis]

she probably had a bad case of office ass, im sure that was her saving grace.

[hitmansb]

sometimes, God just wants you to live I guess....

[CreepingDeath]

thats crazy as hell but I guess stranger things have happened

[pudgy]

she must be living right

[THE BOUNCER]

Originally posted by CreepingDeath
thats crazy as hell but I guess stranger things have happened

what stranger things have happened?? lol. I dont know if you have ever flown but most airlines cruise at around 32,000ft. That is high as fuck!! lol. You cant see cars or people. 100 acher fields look like there the size of a penny. I still have a hard time believeing the story but it happened.

[Timma]

There's no way unless she caught some wind gusts on the way down.

[Luftdude]

That just seems so damned impossible.

LD

[lordikon]

Terminal velocity of a person falling is 110 mph if she was outstretched and facing down, and as high as 250mph if she was upright. Either way, imagine hitting a wall at 110mph or more....

[IntensityX]

Divine intervention I wonder!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rude]

Originally posted by IntensityX
Divine intervention I wonder!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Severedties]

She wasnt free falling through the air. She was falling in a part of, or the entire plane, so the terminal velocity is much smaller i believe.

[buccaneer19]

many strange things have happened in the world but this tops em all. i mean if you fall out of a plane your ass is dead. and for her to say give me a cigarette? this is tough to believe

[lordikon]

The stories about the people who get trapped under icy lakes for a couple hours with no air, and live are pretty crazy. But at least those stories have a scientific explaination.

Noone knows how the hell this lady lived through this. Maybe after the plane wrecked, she hopped in.

[wildman536]

i have been SkyDiving before and just thought about not having that Parachute Open was horriable and from up there (13000 FT) just let me tell ya 33000 would be a Panic Attack from H$$$.

[lordikon]

I wonder if she paniced (sp?) or not, if I was on that plane, I would likely be expecting death.

[golilla]

I have a theory.....Flappy tricepts, you know the saggy tricepts that some fat women have. She used the flappy tricepts to ride a thermal, like a glider and landed safely on the ground with a nagging craving for nicotine.