On January 26, 1972, JAT Flight 367 was en route from Copenhagen to Belgrade when disaster struck—the aircraft exploded mid-air over what was then Czechoslovakia.
On January 26, 1972, a routine flight from Copenhagen to Belgrade turned into one of the most shocking incidents in aviation history.
JAT Flight 367 exploded in mid-air as it passed over Czechoslovakia, likely due to a bomb hidden in the luggage hold.
Though the exact culprit was never identified, the tragedy claimed the lives of 27 people.
The aircraft disintegrated at an altitude of 33,000 feet. Remarkably, there was one survivor: 22-year-old Vesna Vulović, a Yugoslav flight attendant.
She fell from the sky—without a parachute—and lived to tell the tale, setting a Guinness World Record for the highest fall survived without a parachute.
Vesna was pinned by a meal cart in the tail section, which tore off and descended separately.
Miraculously, it crashed into a snowy, forested hillside—softening the impact just enough.
A local man named Bruno Honke, a former army medic, discovered her among the wreckage. She was alive, though critically injured. Thanks to his swift aid, Vesna survived.
She sustained multiple serious injuries, including a fractured skull, broken legs, and damaged vertebrae, but she eventually made a full recovery.
She had no memory of the explosion or fall, and although she could no longer fly, she returned to work at JAT in an administrative role.
Her survival story stunned the world. Vesna became a national symbol of resilience in Yugoslavia and received international recognition, including an entry in the Guinness World Records.
She used her platform to promote peace, unity, and the preciousness of life.
Vesna Vulović lived many more years after the crash, her story continuing to inspire generations.
To this day, her miraculous survival remains one of the most extraordinary accounts of endurance ever recorded in aviation history.
