People who survived the plane crashes. Plane Crash Survivors: Real Stories

Approximately 16% of people are afraid of flying. Statistics say that there is a much better chance of getting into a disaster by traveling by land than by air. But still, in some cases, the risk of plane crashes is quite justified.

After each crash, people who miraculously missed their flight or returned their ticket thank God for such a happy coincidence. After all, the chance of surviving a plane crash is very small. Popular Mechanics magazine published statistics according to which people who choose a seat in the tail of an airplane increase their chances of escape by 40%. But Ed Galea, professor of mathematical modeling and engineering at the University of Greenwich in London, is convinced that there are no "safe" places in airliners. In an air crash, all passengers are equally at risk.

There are very few people who have survived plane crashes. How do they live with a second chance?

Cecilia Sichan (Kroken)

In 1987, Northwest Airlines' McDonnell Douglas MD-82 was wrecked. On board was four-year-old Cecilia Sichan, who was returning from vacation with her mother and brother. The plane could not climb, as a result of which there was a monstrous collision with the pillar, the left wing was damaged. The liner fell to the ground and broke, sliding along the surface for several meters. The accident was due to the fault of the crew - the pilots were unable to control the takeoff angle and aircraft speed. There was also no signal that the plane was not ready for takeoff.

153 people were killed - the crew, passengers and two eyewitnesses of the tragedy. Cecilia Xichan became the only survivor of the crash. The girl owes her salvation to her mother - the woman covered the baby with her body. Cecilia does not remember the collision. Although the girl thinks about it every day and even made a tattoo on her wrist in the form of a small plane, she was able to talk about the tragedy only after a quarter of a century:

“I think about what happened every day. It's hard not to think about it when I look in the mirror. I have scars on my arms and legs, on my forehead. "

Little Cecilia suffered third-degree burns, and her skull, collarbone and leg were fractured. After seven weeks of treatment at the clinic, the baby was taken by Aunt Rita, mother's sister, and Uncle Franklin Lumpkin. To get rid of the annoying attention of journalists, they had to move to Alabama from Arizona.

Cecilia only found out in high school that she was the only survivor aboard the plane:

“I felt guilty. Why me? Why didn't my brother survive? Why not someone else? " - says the girl in the film Sole Survivor.

Cecilia is not afraid to fly, but she also never had the desire to become a flight attendant. At one time, Sichen was nicknamed "the main American orphan." After many years, it was possible to find the firefighter John Tie - it was he who found the girl among the wreckage of the liner and handed her over to doctors. In 2012, Sichen invited her savior to a wedding. In addition, the girl keeps in touch with the families of the victims. Cecilia tries to live a normal life, but one look in the mirror brings her thoughts back to that terrible catastrophe, awakening a sense of guilt that it was she who survived the crash.

Vesna Vulovic

Vesna Vulovich got on the pages of the Guinness Book of Records as a survivor after falling from 10 thousand meters in height.

The girl worked as a flight attendant for Yugoslav Airlines. On January 26, 1972, she flew on a Copenhagen-Zagreb flight with 28 passengers on board. The plane had been in the air for about an hour when, unexpectedly, the bow with the cockpit detached from the rest of the structure. According to the experts, an explosive device went off on board. The State Security Service of Czechoslovakia, 10 days after the plane crash, presented details of the explosive mechanism in the form of an alarm clock. Even the names of the fuses were identified, but they could not be found.

22-year-old Vesna remembers nothing about the crash at all. The last memory is how a cleaning lady cleans the plane, and a few hours later Vulovich was found on the wreckage of this liner.

“A loud explosion, very bright light and unbearable cold — that's all I remember about that disaster. A local resident, the German Bruno, stumbled upon me. I felt my pulse, I realized that my spine was broken, so I didn't move my body, but immediately called for help, ” - Vesna says in an interview.

In addition to multiple fractures, the flight attendant also had memory loss. When she regained consciousness in the hospital, she did not remember anything about the accident and did not understand why her parents were crying. When Vesna was told about what had happened, the stewardess felt a sense of guilt - she could not understand why she survived, while all the passengers and her colleagues died.

“I broke my left arm and left leg, three vertebrae (one of them was simply crushed), in several places I broke my skull,” -recalls his injuries Vulovic.

The girl managed to escape thanks to low pressure - at such a height, the heart of a person with normal pressure simply could not withstand the load. The stewardess lost consciousness, which also played into her hands.

The ambassador of the accident Spring had to learn to talk and walk again, and besides, it was necessary to restore her memory. It took her four and a half years to get back on her feet, and Vulovich could not get rid of her limp for the rest of her life.

After being discharged from the hospital, the girl again wanted to work as a flight attendant, but she was refused, even without taking into account the arguments that "the shell does not fall twice into one funnel" and that Vulovich "is the guarantor of safety on board." However, in return, she was offered a job at the airline's office, where she worked until retirement. In 200/16 spring Vulovic was gone, she died in her home in Belgrade.

Kamil Bazhenov

In April 2012, a UTair airliner bound for Surgut fell from a height of 200 meters 42 seconds after takeoff. The crash occurred near Tyumen, 33 people died, 10 survived.

The plane crash occurred as a result of the PIC's decision not to carry out de-icing, although there was snow on the plane at that moment. After the incident, the airline decided to carry out this procedure without fail, previously the decision remained with the captain.

One of the survivors was 27-year-old Kamil Bazhenov, who was flying to a business meeting. Kamil could fly on a completely different flight, as he mixed up the queues. But at the last moment he still took a ticket in the tail section for this ill-fated plane.

The flight began as usual, nothing foreshadowed trouble, when suddenly the plane began to shake violently. Kamil woke up already on the ground - the guy raised his hand to be noticed by the rescuers. Although Bazhenov was conscious, he could not remember anything that happened next.

In a plane crash, Kamil received ten fractures and four ligament tears, the guy had to learn to walk again.

“Before the disaster, I had a rather difficult period in my life. I work under tough conditions. On a personal level, it was not easy ... But I am not discouraged. The black stripe will change to white. If this happened to a person, then we must fight ”, - says Bazhenov.

Indeed, a year after the accident, Kamil got married and became a successful entrepreneur. Only two photographs from the electronic album "New Life" and a record made after the disaster remind of this page in his biography: " Thank you all for your support, she helped me a lot, especially when I was in intensive care. "

Larisa Savitskaya

20-year-old Larisa and her husband were returning from a honeymoon trip from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Blagoveshchensk. Their An-24 plane was at an altitude of 5220 meters when a Tu-16 bomber unexpectedly crashed into the liner. The plane scattered to the wreckage, tightly grabbing the passenger seat, Savitskaya flew down.

“I remember a terrible blow, a burn - the temperature from plus 25 instantly dropped to minus 30. Terrible screams and the whistle of air. My husband died immediately - at that moment my life ended. I didn’t even scream - because of grief I didn’t have time to realize fear. At first I lost consciousness, and when I regained consciousness, I lie and think - but not about death, but about pain. I don't want it to hurt when falling ”, -recalls Larisa in an interview.

The girl did not even think that she would be able to survive, she just wanted to die without pain. But the collision with the tree saved her life. When Larisa was hit, she knocked out all her teeth, injured her spine in five places, broke her legs, ribs and an arm.

The girl spent three days unconscious. When she finally managed to open her eyes, the first thing she saw was the body of her deceased husband.

“The state of shock was such that I did not feel pain. I could even walk. When the rescuers found me, they could not utter anything except "mu-mu". I understand them. Three days to shoot pieces of bodies from trees, and then suddenly see a living person. "

Larissa's relatives did not expect to see the girl alive either. They even ordered a coffin for her and dug her grave. Savitskaya had to undergo a long course of treatment and a period of rehabilitation, but even now, years later, with a change in the weather, the pain intensifies, reminding of that monstrous day.

A few days before the flight, Larisa watched the film "Miracles Happen", which told about Juliana's rescue by a cap. Savitskaya does not know if this was a warning.

“I didn’t get caught up in religion, drunkenness, or depression. I love life. But sometimes, half-jokingly, half-seriously I say: "I am a beloved girl with God." I live as I lived ”.

In 1985, Larisa had a son. Two months after this happy event, Savitskaya's mother died in a car accident. Larisa lived on an allowance of 32 rubles, reprinted texts, traded in books. In the 90s, she was paralyzed - the cause was injuries sustained in the crash of the liner. But Savitskaya was able to scramble out and even got a job as an office manager in a real estate company.

The woman tries not to remember the crash, but any mention of the plane crashes brings her back to that day. In addition, Larisa now celebrates two birthdays - she considers August 24 as the day of her salvation, when she was given a second chance.

Juliana Kepke

On December 24, 1971, a terrible plane crash occurred in Peru with a huge number of victims - 92 people died in the crash of the Lockheed L-188 Electra aircraft.

Juliana Margaret Köpke, 17, became the sole surviving passenger. The girl, along with her mother - ornithologist Maria Kepke - went to her father. Hans Kepke was a zoologist and was doing research in the South American jungle. The family wanted to celebrate Christmas together.

20 minutes before the end of the flight, the plane flew into the cloud, the passengers felt a strong shaking. Luggage was flying around the cabin, passengers were crying and screaming.

“Suddenly we entered a very heavy dark cloud. My mother was worried, but I was fine, I liked flying. "juliana told the BBC.

The girl did not let go of her mother's hand, the last words that Juliana heard were: "This is the end, it's all over."

The plane went into a tailspin and the girl lost consciousness. She woke up in the hospital and the first thing she thought about was: "I survived the plane crash."

Kapke tore ligaments in the knee joint, her collarbone was broken in several places. But after the accident, Juliana was in a state of passion and did not feel pain, all her forces were directed to surviving:

“Before the crash, I spent a year and a half with my parents at a research station just 30 miles from where the plane crashed. I learned a lot about life in the rainforest. I could hear the search planes circling, but I could not see them because of the dense forest. "

The girl had to wade her way almost by touch - she lost her glasses and saw almost nothing. During the day, she was able to go to the stream, which was to lead her to civilization. It took her 10 days to find people. On the way, she kept bumping into the mutilated bodies of passengers, in each of them she tried to make out her mother and every time she was convinced that there were other people in front of her, she sighed with relief.

Juliana had many wounds, in which the larvae had already wound up, the girl pulled them out with her hands, overcoming severe pain. But salvation finally came:

“At some point, I heard the voices of several men. It sounded like the voices of angels. When they saw me, they became alarmed and stopped speaking. They thought I was some kind of water goddess - a figure from a local legend. "

At first, local residents had to provide assistance to the surviving passenger on their own, only a day later Juliana fell into the hands of rescuers. The girl's mother was found two weeks after the crash. The woman survived, but received many injuries. Doctors fought for her life, but Maria Kepke died in the hospital.

Juliana wanted one thing - to forget the catastrophe as a nightmare, but she did not succeed because of the persistent attention of journalists. The story of the girl's rescue formed the basis of the 1974 film Miracles Still Happen. Tired of harassing correspondents, Juliana completely refused to be interviewed.

Only in the early 2000s, the girl was able to talk about the crash again. She got in touch with director Werner Herzog, who was planning to make the documentary Juliana Falls into the Jungle. And ten years later, in 2011, Kepke wrote the book “When I Fell From the Sky”.

The girl became a mammaliologist (a branch of zoology that studies mammals). For what reasons that terrible plane crash happened, they did not explain, so Julian is still interested in the question of why crashes of this kind occur at all:

“Since this happened to me, I have been following the plane crashes. It is very important for me to know why they are happening. It is important for me to find an explanation. Our fall was never explained. "

Kepke is not afraid to fly, but does not like it. When the plane gets into a zone of turbulence, her palms start sweating and squeezes her heart.

The article provides information on air crashes of civil aircraft (AC) and aircraft (LA) of the Air Force (Air Force), in which only 1 (one) person survived from all passengers and crew. Date of publication: 07/29/2011 (updated 11/03/2015).

The most fatal plane crash on this list occurred on August 16, 1987 in the United States. Of 155 people aboard DC-9-82 only 4-year-old Cecilia Sichan survived, having lost her family during the emergency.

1936 year

The first recorded case of a lone survivor of a plane crash was on September 5, 1936. During a sightseeing flight over Pittsburgh International Airport, USA, a Pittsburgh Skyways plane crashed - the type of aircraft is unknown. Ten people died, one 17-year-old girl survived, a passenger on the plane Linda Macdonald (Linda McDonald).

1941 year

On October 30, 1941, near the American city of Moorhead, Minnesota, a Northwest Airlines mail plane fell from a height of 200-300 meters due to icing on the wing. Of the 15 people on board, only the pilot survived Clarence Bates (Clarence Bates).

Photo: Short S.25 Sunderland aircraft

1942 year

Under unclear circumstances, on 25 August 1942, the Short S.25 Sunderland, the Royal Air Force "flying boat", crashed in Scotland. Among the 14 dead was a member of the royal family, the Duke of Kent George, which became the basis for the version of the terrorist attack. Sole survivor - 24-year-old lieutenant Andrew Jack (Andrew Jack), a passenger on an airplane.

1943 year

John Howard (John Alfred Howard) - A 26-year-old passenger on Panagra Flight 9 and the sole survivor of the January 22, 1943 plane crash. A Douglas DC-3 plane collided with a mountain in the province of Caraveli, Peru, at an altitude of about 4 thousand meters. Due to insufficient training of dispatchers, six people died.

The US Air Force Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress crashed on June 14, 1943, near Mackay, Australia. The plane took off during the morning fog and after a short flight at low altitude fell to the ground. The causes of the disaster, during which 40 people died, have not been established. Sole survivor - 22-year-old passenger Foy Roberts (Foye Kenneth Roberts).

Czech pilot, 32 years old Edward Prchal (Eduard Prchal) On July 4, 1943, he was the only survivor of the crash over Gibraltar in a crash 16 seconds after takeoff of the 511 squadron of the RAF B-24 "Liberator II" (hull number AL 523). There are 16 people in the crash, including the commander of the Polish troops and the prime minister of the Polish government in exile, General Władysław Sikorski, his daughter, as well as the chief of staff, General Tadeusz Klimecki. During the investigation, Prchal was unable to clearly explain why on this flight he donned a life jacket, although he usually did not resort to such a precaution, and who the second person was seen on the wing of the crashed plane.

1946 year

On September 5, 1946, a Douglas DC-3, Trans-Luxury Airlines, hit the ground while approaching the destination airfield. 20 people were killed. The likely cause of the disaster in Elko County, Nevada, is a pilot error in spatial orientation in conditions of heavy fog. Only a two year old boy survived Peter Link (Peter Link), who was sitting in his mother's arms.

1947 year

Douglas DC-3, Eastern Air Lines Flight 665, crashed into a hill near Galaxy, USA on January 12, 1947. Of 19 people on board, only 25 survived William Keys Jr. (William Ellis Keyes, Jr.). The cause of the crash has not been established, presumably a pilot error.

On January 28, in China, near the city of Wuhan, 30 minutes after takeoff, the Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando crashed. 25 people died, only 15-year-old survived Paul Vick (Paul Ashton Vick). The reasons for the plane's crash are probably hidden, officially - not established.

In the photo: Douglas DC-3 aircraft of Air France

On February 1, 1947, the Air France Douglas DC-3 fell and crashed for reasons that are not clear. The disaster took place in Portugal, near Lisbon. Sole survivor - 38-year-old Eugene Leonard (Eugene Leonard). Fifteen passengers and crew members were killed.

1948 year

March 10, 1948, Chicago, Douglas DC-4 crash, Delta Air Lines Flight 705. Soon after takeoff (heading for Miami), at an altitude of 60-100 meters, the plane began to lift its nose sharply until it became almost vertical. Then, gaining a height of up to 250 meters, went into a stall on the right wing and eventually crashed into the ground with the bow. The exact reasons for the loss of longitudinal control of the aircraft have not been established. 12 people died, 33-year-old passenger survived Tripolina Mao (Tripolina Meo).

Ireland, near Shannon International Airport, April 15, 1948. At night, a Lockheed L-049 Constellation, PanAm Flight 1-10, descended before the end of the runway, touched a stone fence and collapsed. As a result of the disaster, 30 people died, the only survivor - Mark Worst (Mark Worst).

In the photo: Douglas DC-4 plane in Congo

On May 12, 1948, Douglas DC-4 of the Belgian state company in DR Congo, at an altitude of about 220 meters, fell into the center of a thunderstorm front, sharply lost height and collapsed into the forest, killing 31 people. Survivor - Passenger named Mutafish (Moutafis).

Huang Yu (Cantonese - Wong Yu) - The only 24-year-old survivor of the Cathay Pacific flight that crashed on July 17, 1948 at Cape Macau. 25 people were killed.

1949 year

On November 20, 1949, due to bad weather conditions in Norway, a Dutch aircraft Douglas DC-3 (Aero Holland) fell into the forest and crashed. There were 10 adults and 26 children on board, of whom only a 12-year-old survived Isaac Allal (Isaac Allal).

1950 year

10 year old Olga Rada (Olga Rada) is the sole survivor of the May 24, 1950 plane crash that occurred near Pasto, Colombia, with a LANSA Douglas C-47 Skytrain. The plane, for an unknown reason, collapsed in the air near the Galeras volcano, killing 25 people.

Japan, 130 kilometers from Tokyo, July 27, 1950. 20 minutes after takeoff, a US Air Force Douglas C-47 Skytrain crashed into the Pacific Ocean. The causes of the disaster have not been established, the debris sank to a depth of over 1,500 meters. Of 26 people, only a passenger survived, a 23-year-old sergeant Haru Sadzaki (Haru Sazaki).

Photo: Douglas C-47 Skytrain

On August 30, 1950, another Douglas C-47 Skytrain, a British Air Force plane, crashed near the Indonesian island of Jemaja. For an unknown reason, "Douglas" fell into the South China Sea, following the Singapore-Hong Kong route, killing nine people. Sole survivor - Major David Lowther (David Lowther).

1954 year

Oldbury Village, Hertfordshire, UK. Four minutes after takeoff on January 6, 1954, during a snowstorm, the Vickers Valetta T.3 of the RAF lost altitude and crashed into trees. 16 people died, survived - sergeant PiDi Cliff (P.D. Cliff). The causes of the disaster have not been finally established.

In the photo: plane Vickers Valetta T.3

Paul Olsen (Paul Olsen) got his second chance in life on March 28, 1954, when he was the only survivor of the plane crash near Bear Island, Spitsbergen. During the fall of the RAF mail plane, 8 people were killed.

Photo: passengers of the Li-2 aircraft of the Far Eastern branch of Aeroflot

On August 26, near Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, a Li-2 aircraft of the Aeroflot company (Far Eastern territorial administration of the Civil Air Fleet, Khabarovsk air group) crashed into a hill during landing in low cloud conditions. As a result of the disaster, 26 people died, survived unknown lieutenant colonel of the Soviet army. A man of about 40 years old was taken to the hospital in serious condition.

1956 year

Concetta Finamore (Concetta Finamore) is the sole surviving passenger of Linee Aeree Italiane's LAI Flight 451, which crashed on November 24, 1956. 34 people died.

Photo: the crash site of the Philippine presidential plane

1957 year

On March 17, 1957, the Douglas C-47 Skytrain presidential plane crashed in the Philippines, Cebu Island. As a result of insufficient climb due to a malfunction of electrical appliances, the plane crashed into a mountain after 40 minutes of flight. 25 people were killed, including the 7th President of the Philippines, Ramon Magsaysay. Only the 31-year-old who was in the tail of the plane survived Nestor Mata(Néstor Mata).

In the photo: the plane of the airline Eagle Aviation Limited

On May 1, 1957, a Vickers VC.1 Viking plane crashed by Eagle Aviation Limited near Blackbush Airport, Hampshire, killed 34 people, mostly military personnel and their families. After the fall, four people were found alive and sent to the hospital, but only one passenger survived. whose name is not called.

1959 year

On October 30, 1959, due to a crew error, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain, Piedmont Airlines Flight 349, crashed into the 950-meter Bucks Elbow, White Hall, Virginia, 100 meters below its peak. Survivor Phila Bradley (Phil Bradley) was thrown out of the fuselage during the impact, along with the seat on which he was waiting for the rescuers, wearing a seat belt. The remaining 26 people on board were killed.

Pictured: Allegheny Airlines Martin 2-0-2

December 1, 1959, USA, Williamsport, Pennsylvania. On the approach to landing of a Martin 2-0-2, flight 371 of Allegheny Airlines, the crew went off course and the plane crashed into a mountain. 25 people died, survived - Luis Matarazzo (Louis Matarazzo).

1967 year

Lieutenant Joseph Guinette (Joseph "Leo" Guenet), 29, crew member of the Lockheed EC-121H Super Constellation, US Air Force - lone survivor of the April 25, 1967 plane crash. Eight minutes after the Lockheed took off, the crew reported a fire in the third engine and requested an emergency landing on Nantucket Island in the Atlantic Ocean. However, the plane did not reach the runway, but fell into the water several kilometers from the island. 15 people were killed.

1968 year

Unidentified conscript was the only survivor of the IL-18 crash in the Chunsky district of the Irkutsk region on February 29, 1968. The plane of flight 15 of Aeroflot for an unknown reason fell from a height of about 8000 meters. At an altitude of 1000 m, due to extreme loads, the IL-18 collapsed. The disaster killed 83 people.

1970 year

During a runway run in Cusco, Peru, on August 9, 1970, LANSA's Lockheed L-188 Electra (Flight 502) stalled and the third engine caught fire. Lockheed did take off, and the pilots requested an emergency landing. During the turn, the aircraft banked, lost altitude, fell to the ground and caught fire. As a result of improper operation of the aircraft and erroneous actions of the crew, 101 people died (2 on the ground). The only survivor of this plane crash is a 26-year-old pilot Huang Loo (Juan Loo).

1971 year

June 6, 1971 pilot, lieutenant Christopher Schiess (Christopher E. Schiess) was the only survivor of the collision between a US Navy plane and Hughes Airwest Civil Flight 706. 50 people died.

Photo: Juliana Köpke at the crash site

Peru, Arequipa, December 24, 1971, the tragedy of LANSA Flight 508, which became the basis for the movie "Miracles Still Happen". The Lockheed L-188 Electra aircraft entered a zone of severe turbulence minutes after takeoff. After 20 minutes of flight, the Lockheed was struck by lightning. The plane began to collapse in the air at an altitude of 3.2 kilometers and fell deep into the rainforest. Lone surviving passenger with a fractured collarbone Juliana Kepke (Juliane Koepcke) in 9 days went out to people on her own.

1972

Vesna Vulovic (Vesna Vulović), a 22-year-old flight attendant, sole survivor of the DC-9-30 plane crash (flight JAT 367) on January 26, 1972, near the village of Serbska Kamenice in Czechoslovakia. After the disaster, Vulovich was in a coma for 27 days, and then remained in the hospital for another 16 months. She continued to work for the airline, but this time on the ground (her skull, legs and three vertebrae were damaged).

Vesna Vulovic is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as a free fall survivor without a parachute from a record height of 10 160 meters (33 316 feet).

1973 year

On July 22, 1973, Pan Am Flight 816, Boeing 707-321B, crashed into the Pacific near Papeete, Tahiti. During takeoff, the plane climbed to a height of 100 meters, and then fell to the left and crashed into the water. 78 people died - all except Neela Campbell (Neil James Campbell). Boeing 707 sank to a depth of about 700 meters, flight recorders were not found, the causes of the crash were not established.

In the photo: the bow of the crashed Tu-134A

1979 year

March 22, USSR, Liepaja. Due to the error of the crew and the ATC, which violated the alignment of the aircraft, there was a catastrophe of the Tu-134A cargo flight of the Aeroflot company. Four people were killed, the surviving crew member is a flight mechanic Yuri Dmitrievich Stepanov, who, unlike his comrades, was wearing his seatbelt on takeoff.

On May 30, 1979, a DHC-6 (De Havilland Canada) Twin Otter, Downeast Airlines Flight 46, crashed. For an unknown reason, while landing at the airport in Rockland, Maine, USA, the plane caught on trees and crashed. 17 people were killed, only a 16-year-old passenger remained alive from those on board the DHC John McCafferty (John McCafferty).

1981

Savitskaya Larisa Vladimirovna, the only survivor of the An-24 plane crash (Aeroflot flight 811), which took place on August 24, 1981 near Komsomolsk-on-Amur. A young 20-year-old girl was in the tail and survived after a collision of aircraft in the air: An-24 collided with a Tu-16 bomber at an altitude of 5220 m. 37 people were killed.

Larisa Savitskaya was included in the Russian edition of the Guinness Book of Records as a survivor of a fall from a height of more than 5000 meters and received the minimum amount of compensation for physical damage (75 rubles in money 1981-1982).

September 2, 1981, Columbia, city of Pipe. Due to overload, it could not gain the required altitude and when making a left turn crashed into a hill the Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante aircraft of the Taxi Aereo el Venado airline. 21 people died, only 26-year-old passenger survived Remberto Aparicio (Remberto Aparicio).

1983 year

30 year old Melissa Kelly (Melissa Kelly) is the lone survivor of the April 30, 1983 crash that struck the US Navy Convair CV-340 near Jacksonville, Florida. The crew made the decision to return to the airport of departure when one of the aircraft's engines caught fire shortly after takeoff, but the Convair CV-340 fell into the water 125 meters before the start of the runway. 14 people were killed.

Photo: Tu-154 of Aeroflot company

On December 23, 1984, 110 people were killed in the Tu-154 crash on the Krasnoyarsk-Irkutsk flight. Sole survivor name in the crash of Aeroflot Flight 3519, a 27-year-old man is not named.

1985 year

Shortly after the Lockheed L-188A Electra took off from Reno airfield in Nevada, the aircraft began to vibrate violently due to the opening of the wing hatch. The crew of Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 made a mistake: believing that the detonation was caused by a malfunction of the turbines, the pilots reduced the thrust of the engines, the plane lost speed and fell on the campground. Sole surviving passenger, 17-year-old George Lamson (George Lamson), was thrown from the fuselage with the seat just seconds before the explosion, which killed 70 people.

As we can see, planes are getting larger over the years, and accordingly the number of passengers is increasing ...

1987 year

Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, January 3, 1987. A Boeing 707, Varig Flight 797, crashed during an emergency landing after an engine failure. 50 people died, only one passenger survived, professor Neuba Yessoch (Neuba Yessoh).

On August 16, 1987, while taking off from Detroit Metropolitan, Michigan Airport, the crew did not deploy the flaps and slats of Northwest Airlines Flight 255. As a result, the airliner McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 lost speed and crashed outside the runway. The reason for the malfunction of the flight readiness warning system was the deliberate disconnection of the electrical fuse by an unknown person. In this disaster, 156 people died (two on earth), the only survivor is a four-year-old girl named Cecilia Sichan (Cecelia Cichan).

In the photo: Cecilia Sichan a few years after the disaster

On December 8, 1987, football players and other members of the Alliance sports club were killed, as well as the team's fans returning to Lima. During a re-approach (due to a chassis malfunction) at George Chavez International Airport, the Peruvian Fokker F27-400M aircraft lowered its altitude too early, caught the ocean surface with its right wing, turned over and collapsed. 42 people were killed in a plane crash in Peru. Sole survivor - Lieutenant Edilberto Villar (Edilberto Villar), who was listed as a member of the crew, but strangely his role in the crew was not established.

1988 year

Unknown man was the only survivor of the plane crash on December 11, 1988, which occurred near Leninakan with the Il-76M aircraft of the USSR Air Force. This lucky guy was in the cockpit of a KamAZ truck, loaded onto the plane, when it crashed into a mountain while approaching. 77 people died.

1990 year

Turkmen USSR, Ashgabat region, near Bakhardok, November 19, 1990. Due to a manufacturing defect, the main gearbox of the Mi-8T main rotor, board USSR-22389, of the Aeroflot company was destroyed. The helicopter fell from a height of 1200 m, collided with the ground and exploded. Aircraft commander A. Burmistrov survived, due to the fact that he was thrown through the glazing of the cockpit in an explosion, the remaining 15 people on board were killed.

In the photo: Indonesian survivor of the plane crash Bambang Sumadi

1991 year

A Lockheed C-130 Hercules, an Indonesian Air Force A-1324, was returning from Armed Forces Day on October 5, 1991. On board were pilots who took part in official events. For some unknown (or hidden) reason, the plane lost control and crashed into the Ministry of Labor training center near Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, Jakarta city. As a result of the crash of Lockheed, 135 people died (2 on the ground), survived - Bambang Sumadi (Bambang Sumadi).

1992 year

Libyan leader Yasser Arafat - the only survivor of the April 7, 1992 plane crash. The circumstances of the crash are little known: the plane flew from Khartoum to Tripoli, got into a sandstorm and fell in the desert. At least four people were killed.

Photo: Annette Herfkens, a passenger on Vietnamese flight 474

November 14, 1992, while approaching in a tropical storm, deviated from the course to international airport Cam Ranch and crashed into the top of the ridge by a Vietnam Airlines Yak-40 (Flight 474). All crew members and passengers (30 people) died, except for the 31-year-old Annette Herfkens (Annette Herfkens). It took rescuers 8 days to reach the plane wreck.

In the photo: Erica Delgado with relatives

1995 year

Nine year old Erica Delgado (Erika Delgado), a young passenger on Columbia International Flight 256, became the sole survivor of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 plane crash near Bolivar on January 11, 1995. For an unknown reason, the plane lost control and fell from a height of 3000 meters. 52 people were killed.

On September 24, 1995, 42 people died in the MIAT Mongolian Airlines plane crash, only a 27-year-old survived Ulziybayar Sanjaa (English Ulziibayar Sanjaa).

1997 year

Navigator Sergey Petrov, 37 years old, survived a plane crash near Sharjah airport, UAE. On that day, December 15, 1997, the Tu-154, flight 3183 of the Tajik airlines, during landing due to an error of the pilot, dropped below the required altitude, lost speed and fell in a desert area. As a result of the crash of the liner, 85 people died.

Photo: wreckage of a crashed Boeing-737 in the desert

2003

Yousef Gillali (English Youcef Djillali), 28 years old, citizen of Algeria, soldier. March 6, 2003 flew from Tamanrasset to Gardaya (Algeria). An Algerian Airlines Boeing 737-200 (Air Algérie Flight 6289) crashed in the Sahara Desert due to engine failure during takeoff. Onboard there were 97 passengers and 6 crew members, all but one were killed.

Mohamed el-Fateh Osman (English Mohammed el-Fateh Osman), 3 years old, citizen of Sudan. July 8, 2003 flew with my mother from Port Sudan to Khartoum. A Boeing 737-200 (tail number ST-AFK) of Sudan Airlines (flight 139) crashed in the Red Sea before reaching Khartoum airport. There were 117 passengers and crew on board, all but one were killed. The plane caught fire in the air. Eyewitnesses say the falling plane looked like a giant fireball. Rescuers found a little boy at the crash site.

Photo: Lieutenant Farkas with his wife after the disaster

2006 year

A premature drop in altitude and an error in spatial orientation led to a plane crash on January 19, 2006, which occurred in Pristina, Serbia, with board 5605 of the Slovak Air Force. As a result of the fall of the An-24 aircraft, 42 people were killed. Sole survivor - Lieutenant Martin Farkas (Martin Farkaš), a former passenger on the plane.

On August 27, 2006, while taking off from the airport of Lexington, Kentucky, the Delta Connection pilots confused the runway number and began takeoff along a shorter runway. As a result, the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet (flight 5191) did not have enough take-off run, it rolled out of the runway, rammed an iron fence, crashed into trees, collapsed and caught fire. The accident killed 49 people. Sole survivor - 44-year-old co-pilot James Polekhinke (James Polehinke).

Photo: former pilot James Polekhinke with his wife

2007 year

Iraq, city of Balad, January 9, 2007. Abdulkadir Akyz (Abdülkadir Akyüz) remained the only surviving passenger of the An-26 (board ER-26068) of the Moldovan airline AerianTur-M. The plane crashed while landing at the airport, killing 34 people. There are several versions of the causes of the disaster, including bad weather conditions and a terrorist attack (there is reason to believe that the Moldovan An-26 was shot down by a missile).

Photo: Rescuers evacuate Francesca Lewis, which took about 4 hours, to a location accessible to a helicopter

12 year old Francesca Lewis (Francesca Lewis) is the sole survivor of the plane crash of a Cessna 172 plane that crashed into the slope of the Baru volcano in Panama on December 23, 2007. The tragedy killed everyone on board, including multimillionaire Michael Caine and his 13-year-old daughter Thalia. Francesca was discovered two days after the fall of the Cessna in a remote mountainous area.

2008 year

In conditions of poor visibility on October 8, 2008 near the airport. Tenzinga and Hillary in Lukla, Nepal, the pilot went off course and a Yeti Airlines De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter (Flight 103) crashed into the mountain. As a result of the disaster, the lives of 18 people were cut short. Sole survivor - crew commander Surendra Kunwar (English Surendra Kunwar).

year 2009

Canada, Newfoundland Island, March 12. A Sikorsky S-92 helicopter serving the Khybernia oil field crashed into the ocean while flying to an oil platform. Only 28-year-old survived Robert Decker (Robert Decker) 17 people killed.

In the photo: Bahia Bakari in a hospital bed in July 2009

Bahia Bakari (English Bahia Bakari), 14 years old, French citizen. June 30, 2009 flew with her mother from Marseille to the Comoros. Airbus A-310-300 Yemeni Airlines (flight IY 626) crashed in the Indian Ocean near the Comoros. There were 153 passengers on board, all but the teenage girl were killed. Bahia did not receive any physical injuries in the disaster, only suffered from hypothermia after being in the water for 14 hours. In 2010, she published her autobiography Survivor.

Photo: 9-year-old Ruben van Assou in the hospital after surgery

2010 year

Ruben van Assou (Ruben van Assouw), 9 years old, Dutch citizen. May 12, 2010 flew with his parents from Johannesburg to Tripoli. An Airbus A330-200 of the Libyan company Afriqiyah Airways (flight 771) crashed during the landing approach at Tripoli airport due to pilot error. Onboard there were 93 passengers and 11 crew members, all but one were killed. The child was found awake among the rubble. The boy has broken legs, but his vital signs are normal.

On August 25, 2010, while approaching the Bandundu airfield in DR Congo, a 9Q-CCN board of Filair, a Let L-420UVP plane, crashed into a house. Due to lack of fuel or technical malfunction, 20 people died. Unfortunately, no data on sole survivor in this disaster.

2011

On April 4, in the city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, a Georgian pilot, Georgian Airways, who was transporting cargo and passengers ordered by the UN, lost control of a Bombardier CRJ 100 in adverse weather conditions. As a result of the impact on the DGG, the plane split into two parts and caught fire. 32 people died. Sole survivor - Francis Muamba (Francis Mwamba).

Alexander Sizov, 42 years old, an engineer for aviation and radio technical maintenance of the Yak-42 aircraft (flight AKY-9633), which crashed on September 7 on the Yaroslavl-Minsk route. The plane crashed during takeoff from Tunoshna airport due to a crew error. The plane rolled off the runway, did not have time to gain altitude, collided with a radio beacon, crashed into the ground and exploded. 44 people were killed, including the players of the hockey club "Lokomotiv".

In the photo: Yak-42 five years before the disaster

year 2014

On February 11, 2014, a Lockheed C-130H-30 Hercules military transport plane crashed while flying from Tamanrasset to Constantina, the Algerian province of Umm al-Bawaki. Before reaching its destination, the plane crashed in a mountainous area, killing 77 people. Escaped 21-year-old Nimer Jellul (English Nimer Djelloul).

2015 year

The plane An-2 of the Kazakhmys company, making a flight on January 20 from Balkhash to Shatyrkol, Shu district of the Zhambyl region of Kazakhstan, crashed on approach to its destination. Six people died, survived Asem Shayakhmetova.

Based on materials from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

Aircraft Passenger Safety

Specialists from the University of Greenwich (London) conducted a study in 2008, the data for which was taken from an analysis of the circumstances of the death of 105 people in plane crashes. Also, almost 2 thousand people who survived the plane crash were interviewed.

The results showed: the safest seats are at the aisle, no more than five rows from the emergency exit.

According to a number of experts, the seats of flight attendants are safer than passenger seats, since they are located backwards. It was even proposed to deploy the passenger seats, but the innovation was not implemented due to the unwillingness of passengers to fly backwards. In addition, when the aircraft is flying in a cruising mode with a positive angle of attack, passengers sitting facing the flight will "crawl" out of their seats, since in this position of the aircraft the seat cushion is at a negative angle to the horizon.

If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.

The statistics stubbornly show that in terms of safety, aviation is significantly higher than motor vehicles. In the United States, more people die in car accidents every year than have died in plane crashes in the entire history of air travel.

But even those who are in trouble in the air have a chance. Even if it's one chance in a million. Here are seven stories of those who pulled out their lucky ticket while on the verge of death.

Cecilia Xichan

On August 16, 1989, a regular flight - McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 of Northwest Airlines began taking off from Detroit airport. Onboard there were 154 people, including a 4-year-old girl Cecilia Sichan. Her parents and her six-year-old brother flew with her.

The liner began to swing already on takeoff, it touched the lighting mast with its left wing, part of the wing came off and caught fire. Then the plane tilted to the right and another wing punctured the roof of the car rental office. The plane crashed onto the highway, falling to pieces, and caught fire. The debris and bodies of the victims were scattered over an area of \u200b\u200bover half a mile.

Worked at the crash site firefighter John Tiedheard a thin squeak and saw a child's pen among the rubble. A 4-year-old girl with a skull fracture, a broken leg and collarbone, and third-degree burns was the only survivor of the accident. She underwent four skin grafts but managed to fully recover.

Cecilia was raised by her aunt and uncle. When the girl grew up, she got a tattoo on her wrist in the form of an airplane, in memory of that tragic and happy day.

Sessilia admits that she is not at all afraid to fly airplanes, guided by a principle that is well known in Russia - if this has already happened to her once, the likelihood of a repetition of this is negligible. Simply put, the shell does not hit the same funnel twice.

Larisa Savitskaya

On August 24, 1981, 20-year-old student Larisa Savitskaya was returning from her honeymoon trip with her husband Vladimir. The An-24 plane was on a flight from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Blagoveshchensk. An-24 collided with a Tu-16 bomber over the city of Zavitinsk at an altitude of 5200 meters. As a result of the collision, the crews of both aircraft were killed. An-24 broke into several parts and began to fall. Larisa, who was sleeping in her seat in the tail of the plane, woke up from a strong blow and a sudden burn caused by the depressurization of the cabin at altitude.

Another break in the fuselage threw her into the passage, but Larisa managed to get back into the chair. As she recalled later, she recalled the Italian film Miracles Still Happen, where the heroine escaped in a similar situation, squeezing into a chair. Larisa herself admitted that she did not believe in salvation, but simply wanted to “die slightly”.

The surviving part of the aircraft's hull fell onto a birch grove, which softened the blow. Experts later found that Larisa Savitskaya fell within 8 minutes from a height of 5200 meters on a wreck of an aircraft measuring 3 meters wide and 4 meters long.

From the blow, she lost consciousness for several hours, but then came to herself and was able to move independently.

In the forest alone, among the corpses and debris, the girl spent two days, managing to build herself even a semblance of shelter from the weather.

Rescuers who reached the crash site were shocked to see the girl. Larisa Savitskaya was the only one of 38 people who was lucky enough to survive this plane crash.

The search engines were so sure of her death that a grave was already prepared for the woman, as well as for other victims. Doctors diagnosed her with a concussion, spinal injuries in five places, and fractures of the arm and ribs. She also lost almost all of her teeth.

Larisa Savitskaya was twice entered into the Guinness Book of Records: as a person who survived a fall from a maximum height, and as a person who received the minimum amount of compensation for physical damage in a plane crash - 75 rubles (in 1981 money).

Vesna Vulovic

On January 26, 1972, a Yugoslav passenger plane Douglas DC-9, en route from Copenhagen to Zagreb, exploded in the air near the village of Serbska Kamenice in Czechoslovakia at an altitude of 10 160 meters. The cause of the tragedy, according to the Yugoslav authorities, was a bomb hidden aboard an airliner by Croatian Ustasha terrorists.

The plane, torn to pieces, began to fall down. In the middle section was the 22-year-old flight attendant Vesna Vulovich. Spring was not supposed to be on that flight - she replaced her colleague and namesake - Vesna Nikolic.

The wreckage of the plane fell onto the snow-covered trees, softening the blow. But luck for the girl was not only this - she was first discovered in an unconscious state by the local peasant Bruno Honke, who during the war years worked in a German field hospital and knew how to provide first aid.

Immediately after that, the flight attendant, the only survivor of the crash, was taken to the hospital. Vesna Vulovic spent 27 days in a coma and 16 months in a hospital bed, but still survived. In 1985, she was included in the Guinness Book of Records for the highest jump without a parachute, having received a certificate from the hands of her musical idol - a member of the famous Beatles group Paul McCartney.

Erica Delgado

On January 11, 1995, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14 aircraft flew from Bogota to Cartagena with 47 passengers and 5 crew members on board.

Due to the failure of the altimeter during the landing approach, the plane literally crashed in a swampy area. 9-year-old Erica Delgado, who was flying with her parents and her younger brother, was thrown from the plane at the moment when it began to fall apart. The girl later said that her mother pushed her out of the liner.

The plane exploded and caught fire. Erica fell into a pile of seaweed, which softened the blow, but could not get out. According to her recollections, looting immediately began at the site of the disaster: from her, from the living, one of the local residents tore off a gold necklace and disappeared, ignoring requests for help. After a while, the girl was found by her screams and pulled out of the swamp by a local farmer. Erica Delgado, the only survivor of the crash, escaped with only a broken arm.

Julianne Dealer Cap

On December 24, 1971, the Lockheed L-188 Electra of the Peruvian airline LANSA fell into a vast thunderstorm area, was struck by lightning and was subjected to severe turbulence. The plane began to collapse in the air at an altitude of 3.2 kilometers and fell deep into the rainforest, about 500 kilometers from the capital of the country, Lima.

17-year-old schoolgirl Julianne Kepke was strapped to one of the chairs in a row that broke off from the rest of the hull. The girl fell among the raging elements, while the fragment rotated like a helicopter blade. This, as well as falling into the dense crowns of trees, softened the blow.

After the fall, Julianne's collarbone was broken, her arm was badly scratched, her right eye swollen from the blow, her whole body was covered with bruises and scratches. Nevertheless, the girl did not lose her ability to move. It also helped that Julianne's father was a biologist and taught her the rules of survival in the forest. The girl was able to get food for herself, then she found a stream and went downstream. After 9 days, she herself went out to the fishermen, who saved Julianne.

Based on the real story of Julianne Kepke, several feature films were shot, including "Miracles Still Happen" - the one that will help Larisa Savitskaya survive in a plane crash ten years later.

Bahia Bakari

On June 30, 2009, the Airbus A-310-300 of the Yemeni airline flew flight 626 from Paris to the Comoros with a transfer in the capital of Yemen, Sana'a.

Among the passengers was 13-year-old Bahia Bakari, who was flying with her mother from France to the Comoros to visit her grandparents. The plane crashed into Indian Ocean in the territorial waters of Comoros just a few minutes before landing. What exactly happened, the girl does not remember, since at the time of the disaster she was sleeping. Bahia herself believes that she was thrown through the window.

When she fell, she received multiple bruises and broke her collarbone. However, a new test awaited her - it was necessary to survive in the water until the arrival of rescuers. The girl managed to climb onto one of the aircraft wreckage that remained afloat. She spent nine hours on it, according to Bakari herself, although some sources claim that rescuers found her only 14 hours after the disaster.

The surviving passenger was found by fishermen, who took her to the hospital. Not everyone believed in the possibility of such a rescue - there were rumors that the girl was thrown out of the boat by illegal immigrants, since Bahia has a suitable appearance.

The girl was taken to Paris by a special plane, where the then President of France visited her in the hospital. Nicolas Sarkozy.

Bahia Bakari was the only survivor of the 153 people on board. Six months after the disaster, Bakari published her autobiography The Survivor.

"Lucky Four"

On August 12, 1985, Japan suffered the largest casualty in the world aviation with the participation of one aircraft.

The Jepan Airlines Boeing 747SR flew from Tokyo to Osaka. Onboard there were 524 passengers and a crew member. 12 minutes after takeoff, during the climb to 7500 meters, the vertical tail stabilizer broke off the aircraft, resulting in depressurization, the pressure in the cabin dropped and all hydraulic systems of the airliner failed.

The plane became uncontrollable and was virtually doomed. Nevertheless, the pilots managed to keep the airliner in the air for another 32 minutes with incredible efforts. As a result, he suffered a disaster near Mount Takamagahara, 100 kilometers from Tokyo.

The airliner crashed in a mountainous area, and rescuers managed to reach it only the next morning. They did not hope to meet the survivors.

However, the search group found four alive at once - a 24-year-old stewardess Yumi Ochiai, 34-year-old Hiroko Yoshizakiwith her 8 year old daughter Mikiko and 12 year old Keiko Kawakami.

Rescuers found the first three on the ground, and 12-year-old Keiko - sitting in a tree. It was there that the girl was thrown at the time of the ship's death.

The four survivors were nicknamed the Lucky Four in Japan. All of them during the flight were in the tail compartment, in the area where the plane's skin was torn.

Many more people could have survived in this monstrous disaster. Keiko Kawakami later said that she heard the voice of her father and other wounded. As the doctors later established, many of the Boeing passengers died on the ground from wounds, cold and painful shock, since rescue teams did not try to get to the crash site at night. As a result, 520 people became victims of the crash.

By far the fastest and most comfortable mode of transport of our time is an airplane. Moreover, quite often it is on an airliner that passengers can get to the most remote place on the planet, and the journey will take very little time. However, many refuse this option, as they consider plane crashes to be a frequent occurrence. And this is not at all surprising, because if you analyze the numerous feature films about plane crashes, then you can really come to the conclusion that planes crash almost every day and passengers have practically no chance of surviving. In fact, of course, this is not the case, and this fact is confirmed by the numerous survivors of the plane crash. The real stories about the lucky ones who managed to escape from plane crashes, we will cite in this article as a convincing example.

Of course, the plane was and will be the most convenient and safe mode of transport, but even such a powerful and reliable aircraft should first of all be considered as a technique. And as you know, any machine can malfunction, which leads to emergencies. According to analytical studies, the main cause of disasters, however sad it is to admit, is the human factor. After all, technology cannot spoil itself and disable itself, this happens due to the carelessness and negligence of a person. If, when assembling the machine, low-quality components were used, due attention was not paid to this process, and the daily technical inspection was carried out, as they say, in haste, then even the most reliable equipment may sooner or later fail.

Almost all survivors of the plane crash point out that the car in the sky is simply beginning to behave somehow incorrectly, and on board at this time, alarming "lights" begin to flash, which further aggravates the already alarming situation. Experts argue that any breakdown in the sky is a flaw and specialists need to find it on the ground in order to prevent an emergency.

Most often, planes crash due to the following reasons:

• malfunctions of the aircraft or individual devices that were not identified during the technical inspection. According to statistics, approximately 23% of plane crashes occur precisely for this reason, that is, due to ordinary human negligence and carelessness;
• mistakes made by pilots and maintenance personnel;
• unfavorable conditions that can change dramatically on the route of the airliner.

There are several other reasons that can lead to a plane crash, for example, terrorism, but this is a completely different topic for discussion. But in order not to cause an emergency, the survivors of the plane crash remain in almost every accident. What helped them stay alive, what measures they took to save their lives, we will further analyze more carefully.

Names and stories of people who survived plane crashes

Rescuers carry survivors from the crash site of the Jose Maria Cordova airport in Colombia

It may seem to many that those who managed to survive the plane crash were just lucky, that is, they are said to have been born under a lucky star. In reality, this is not entirely true, because experts, having analyzed more than 2 thousand rescues, came to the conclusion that the survivors after the plane crash were able to save their lives not only because of a favorable coincidence of circumstances, but also thanks to the knowledge and rules that they took in a timely manner in extreme situation.

This refers to the surviving crew member of the Yugoslavian airliner - flight attendant V. Vulovic, who was 22 at the time of the accident. Unfortunately, in the history of those who survived it is not often possible to find the names of the crew members of airliners, perhaps this is due to the fact that in such a difficult situation the crew of the airship does not care about their own safety, but devotes all their strength to rescue passengers.

And V. Vulovich, nevertheless, managed to miraculously escape in a terrible plane crash, in which a passenger plane exploded in the sky due to a bomb on board, which was planted by terrorists. This terrible tragedy happened in 1972, during an air flight from Copenhagen to Zagreb, which was carried out by a Yugoslav air carrier. Despite a terrible explosion in the sky, the stewardess survived the plane crash. According to experts, such an incredible rescue can be explained by the fact that the flight attendant at the time of the explosion was in the safest place - in the middle of the cabin and at a decent distance from the bomb. By a lucky coincidence, the surviving flight attendant, when the plane crashed, was in a compartment separated from the hull, which fell from a height of 10 thousand km onto the branches of snow-covered trees and thereby softened the blow.

But this is just the first part of a happy story, a Yugoslav flight attendant who miraculously escaped. If not for the help of a local resident, who, upon seeing the girl, immediately released her from the wreckage of the plane and took her to the nearest hospital, Vesna Vulovich could simply freeze in the cold forest. The surviving stewardess after the plane crash from such a great height lay in a coma for more than a month, and after that she still had to wage a desperate struggle for her life for almost 1.5 years. The girl was able to withstand serious trials and soon fully recovered both physically and mentally, and her really "fantastic" jump from a height of 10 thousand km without a parachute was entered in the Guinness Book. The legal certificate of the world-famous stewardess was presented by her idol - Paul McCartney, which made the heroine incredibly delighted.

The story of Cecilia Sichan, a 4-year-old girl

Cecilia Sichan

The story of the next heroine Cecilia Sichan took place in 1989, even today it is actively discussed. Indeed, in this terrible tragedy that happened to the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82, serviced by Northwest Airlines, only one passenger out of 154 people on board, a 4-year-old little girl from America, was able to survive.

Cecilia traveled by air with her parents. The malfunction that caused the plane crash showed itself on takeoff - the pilot could not turn the steering wheel correctly, as a result of which the left wing plane caught on the mast for illumination, a terrible flame instantly engulfed the wing. Air transport changed the trajectory of the flight, which led to the fall and explosion of the aircraft. The airliner fell on the highway, a terrible explosion followed immediately. The wreckage of the car and the mutilated bodies of those on board were found by experts half a mile from the crash site.

Medics and firefighters arrived at the scene of the tragedy immediately, but the horror of the picture presented made it clear that there was no one to save in this place. However, children's crying, which came from the wreckage of the plane, led the rescuers to real amazement. Firefighter D. Tied was the first to rush at the children's voice. Seeing a small hand that reached out of the wreckage, the fireman carefully took out the victim and carefully handed her over to the doctors.

Of course, during the crash, the girl received numerous injuries to both the head and limbs, besides this, her body was badly burned. But despite everything, it was this little traveler who was the only one to survive in the terrible tragedy. For a complete recovery, the girl had to undergo several operations, including 4 skin grafts. Cecilia was taken care of by her aunt and uncle. As soon as the girl grew up, she decided to get an airliner tattoo on her arm, as a constant reminder of a terrible and at the same time happy day in her life. Today Cecilia continues to use modern airplanes, and to the frequently asked question, are you afraid of air travel, she jokingly replies - "No, I'm not afraid, because the shell certainly doesn't hit the same place twice."

Russian accident

The tragedy with the An-24 aircraft, which carried 38 passengers from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Blagoveshchensk, was discussed for a long time all over the world. After all, the survivors of the plane crash were not numbered in dozens or even units - in this terrible disaster, which happened in 1981, one 20-year-old passenger, L. Savitskaya, who was returning home with her husband after a honeymoon, was able to survive. The name of the surviving passenger was entered into the Guinness Book of Records, and more than once:

1. For surviving a fall without a parachute from a height of more than 5 thousand km.
2. For receiving the very minimum compensation, in the amount of 75 rubles, which is paid by the state as damage to all victims.
3. She also collected many domestic awards from the authorities.

The cause of the plane crash was a collision with a bomber. Of course, the An-24, which is small in size, could not withstand the terrible blow and simply fell to pieces high in the sky. At the moment of the collision, the happy passenger was resting in her seat, wearing a seat belt. A severe burn caused her from a state of sleep, caused by fire, which was rapidly gaining strength due to depressurization.

Larisa was familiarized with the rules of safe flight, so she did not unfasten her seat belts and squeezed into her chair as much as possible. As the girl later explains, she was helped to survive by the plot of the film from the Italian directors "Miracles still meet", in which the main character was able to survive thanks to the fastened belt and the correctly chosen body position. The part of the plane, in which the girl was, fell on tree branches, which largely softened the fall, which lasted about 8 minutes. After landing, Larisa lost consciousness, but after a while she woke up on her own, went down into a birch forest and even built a shelter for herself for a safe overnight stay. It took the rescue teams 48 hours to find the happy passenger, whose name had already been added to the death toll.

This is not at all surprising, because those who arrived at the scene of the tragedy could not find a single survivor, there were only charred bodies and aircraft wreckage around. The girl had serious head and back injuries, for a full recovery she needed to undergo several operations, with which Larisa was able to cope 100%.

Erica Delgado's story

Erica Delgado

Many were worried about the recovery of 9-year-old, one surviving passenger of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14 aircraft, Erica Delgado. Air transport carried 47 passengers to Bogota from Cartagena. Only Erica managed to escape death. The cause of the crash was the breakdown of the altimeter, as a result of which the plane could not safely land and simply fell in a swampy area.

The girl was on board with her parents and brother, according to her, from the plane, which literally began to fall apart, she was pushed out by her mother's hands. Literally a few seconds later, the air transport was engulfed in flames, a terrible explosion thundered. Erica fell on the seaweed, but she could not get out of the swamp bog on her own. According to the girl, a few minutes later, local residents arrived at the scene of the tragedy, but not to save the victims, but to make money. According to Erica, they ignored her pleas for help, but the marauders quickly ripped off the gold jewelry from her neck and hurried away. But nevertheless, her rescuer was a local farmer, who, hearing a child's cry, hurried to help the girl. Surprisingly, in such a terrible accident, Erica escaped with only a broken arm.

More stories from Russia

In the 2011 crash of the Russian Yak-42 aircraft, flying on the route Yaroslavl - Minsk, two survived. The plane was supposed to deliver the hockey team to Minsk, after the fall of the air transport, rescuers found two survivors - the athlete A. Galimov and A. Sizov, the flight engineer of the crashed aircraft. Unfortunately, the efforts of doctors did not help save the hockey player's life, as he received serious burns to his body, incompatible with life. The flight engineer was much more fortunate, despite numerous fractures and bruises, Alexander was able to fully recover his strength and did not even give up aviation. Of course, the flight engineer does not agree to work in the air, but he very carefully checks each aircraft for technical serviceability before departure.

Experts say that saving their lives in a plane crash is quite realistic, the most important thing is that passengers should know about the rules of safe flight, use this knowledge in an emergency, remain calm even in a seemingly hopeless situation, and strictly adhere to instructions from the crew members. It is imperative that you soberly assess the current situation and slowly make the right decision.

In contact with

Each of these people was the sole survivor of the plane crash. K with a part of them is much more than 20 people (more precisely, 75), but here are selected those who survived among the largest number of victims or under very unusual circumstances, as well as children. Long life for them ...
All photos are taken at random, solely to illustrate plane crashes (not specific), airlines, planes and photos of survivors (if any).

5.09.1946, USA, Elko County (Nevada)

The Douglas DC-3 aircraft of Trans-Luxury Airlines, when approaching the destination airfield, collided with the ground. The probable cause is pilot error in spatial orientation in conditions of heavy fog. 20 people died, only two-year-old Peter Link survived, who was sitting in his mother's arms.

01/28/1947, China, Wuhan city. And again a child, even younger ..

A Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando of the National China Aviation Corporation crashed 30 minutes after leaving Wuhan. The reasons have not been established. 25 people died, only one and a half-year-old Paul Vick survived (there is no data where he was)

11/20/1949, Norway, commune Hurum

Aircraft Douglas DC-3, Aero Holland airlines. The plane crash occurred due to difficult weather conditions, which the crew was unable to overcome. The plane fell into the forest. Of the 30 passengers, 26 were children. 34 people died, including the crew, whether 12-year-old Isaac Allal survived.

10/30/1959, USA, Croset (Virginia)

Douglas C-47 Skytrain again, Piedmont Airlines Flight 349. Due to a crew error, the plane crashed into a 950-meter mountain (Bucks Elbow Mountain is 100 meters below its peak. Surviving Phil Bradley was thrown out of the fuselage during the impact, along with the seat on which he was waiting for the rescuers, wearing a seat belt. 26 people were killed. ...

08/09/1970, Peru, the city of Cuzco

Lockheed L-188 Electra, LANSA Flight 502. During the takeoff run along the runway, the third engine stalled and caught fire. Lockheed took off on three other engines, but the pilots requested an emergency landing and began a U-turn. The aircraft tilted sharply to the left (35-40 degrees), after which it began to lose altitude, crashed into the ground and caught fire. Cause of disaster: overload, pilot error, inadequate maintenance. 101 people were killed, only 26-year-old pilot Huang Lu survived.

12/24/1971, also Peru, Arequipa region

Airplane Lockheed L-188 Electra, flight 508 of LANSA airlines, half an hour after take-off, due to the fault of the pilots, it got into a thunderstorm, where it was hit by lightning. The plane began to collapse in the air at an altitude of 6400 meters and fell into the depths of the rainforest. Having received numerous injuries, the surviving passenger Juliana Koepke (19 years old) went out to the people after 9 days. She sat in the tail, the penultimate row on the right, by the window. 91 people died. Based on this tragedy, the film "Miracles Still Happen" was filmed.

On January 26, 1972, the DC-9-32 Jugoslovenski Aerotransport (JAT, international name - Yugoslav Airlines) was flying on the route Stockholm - Copenhagen - Zagreb - Belgrade

An hour after takeoff, the DC-9 passed the next waypoint (Hermsdorf drive radio station in East Germany) and reached an altitude of 10 160 meters. Soon, the plane unexpectedly collapsed: the bow part with the cockpit separated from the main body. 27 people were killed, only 22-year-old flight attendant Vesna Vulovich survived, the only woman in the world to survive a fall from such a height. Later, Vesna was included in the Guinness Book of Records, was treated for more than a year (her leg was paralyzed), but then returned to work for the same airline, albeit for ground work. She got married, has died today.

07/22/1973, French Polynesia, Tahiti, the city of Papeete

The Boeing 707-321B, Pan Am Flight 816, took off from the airfield and climbed to 100 meters, and then began to tumble to the left and plunged into the Pacific Ocean, plunging to a depth of about 700 meters. Flight recorders were not found. The causes of the disaster have not been established. 78 people were killed, only Neil Campbell, who was sitting in the middle of the plane, survived.

01/15/1979, USSR, in the vicinity of Minsk

An-24B plane, flight 7502 of Aeroflot airline crashed due to icing. The only surviving child is 13-year-old Victoria Bendeberya.

08.24.1981, USSR, Komsomolsk-on-Amur

An-24 aircraft, Aeroflot flight 811 collided with a Tu-16 bomber at an altitude of 5220 m. 37 people were killed. The only woman who survived, who fell from a height of 5200 meters, Larisa Savitskaya, 20 years old, sat in the tail. She lived for two days in the taiga, under the constant pouring rain, under the "tent" they had built themselves. Doctors diagnosed her with a concussion, spinal injuries in five places, and fractures of the arm and ribs. She also lost almost all of her teeth.

01/21/1985, USA, Reno (Nevada)

Lockheed L-188A Electra aircraft, Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 (USA). Shortly after takeoff, a strong vibration began in the plane due to the opening of the hatch on the wing. The crew made a mistake in assessing the situation and reduced the thrust of the engines, deciding that the detonation was caused by a malfunction of the turbines. As a result, the plane lost speed and crashed onto the campsite. The only surviving passenger, 17-year-old George Lamson, along with the seat (seat 6B, left side, at the beginning of the cabin) was thrown from the fuselage seconds before the explosion, which ultimately saved his life. 70 people were killed.

08.16.1987, USA, Detroit Metropolitan (airport), McDonnell

Again, the Douglas DC-9-82, flight 255 of Northwest Airlines, when taking off with the flaps and slats from the runway not extended, the plane lost speed and crashed outside the runway. The cause of the disaster was the crew's mistake, which did not check the position of the flaps and slats before takeoff, and also the absence of electrical voltage in the take-off warning system, which was caused by deliberate disconnection of the electrical fuse. Killed 156 people, only four-year-old Cecelia Cichan survived.

11.12.1988, USSR, near Leninakan

IL-76M aircraft, USSR Air Force crashed, crashing into a mountain while landing. 77 people died. Only Fyodor Balakev survived, who at that moment was in the cargo hold, sleeping in the cab of a transported KamAZ.

5.10.1991, Indonesia, Halim Perdanakusuma airport, Jakarta

A Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft, an A-1324 of the Indonesian Air Force, for some unknown (or hidden) reason lost control and crashed into the Ministry of Labor training center. 135 people died, only one survived - Bambang Sumadi P n / a n / a

12/15/1997, UAE, Sharjah

Airplane Tu-154, flight 3183 of the Tajik airlines, during the landing approach, dropped below the required altitude, lost speed and fell in a desert area. The cause of the crash was pilot error. 85 people died. Only 37-year-old navigator Sergei Petrov, who was in the cockpit, survived.

6.03.2003, Algeria, Tamanrasset

Airplane Boeing 737-200, flight 6289 of Air Algerie. Engine failure during takeoff. 102 people died. Among the survivors, only one is 28-year-old Yousef Jillali.

27.08.2006, USA, Lexington (Kentucky)

Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet, Delta Connection Flight 5191. During takeoff, the pilots confused the runway number and began takeoff along a shorter runway. The takeoff run was not enough, so the plane rolled out of the runway, rammed an iron fence, crashed into trees, collapsed and caught fire. 49 people were killed, only 44-year-old co-pilot James Polekhinke, who was in the cockpit, survived.

06/30/2009, Comoros

Airbus A-310-300, flight IY 626 crashed on approach. 152 people died. Only 14-year-old Bahia Bakari survived, sitting in the aft section next to the window.

12.05.2010, Libya, Tripoli

Airbus A330-200, Flight 771 of Afriqiyah Airways, crashed during landing due to crew error. 103 people died, only 9-year-old Ruben van Assou survived.

7.09.2011, Russia, Yaroslavl

Aircraft Yak-42D, flight AKY-9633 crashed during takeoff due to crew error. 44 people were killed. On board of which were the hockey players of the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv. Only 52-year-old engineer for aviation and radio-electronic equipment Alexander Sizov, who was sitting on the right in the last row, survived., Although the hockey player Alexander Galimov also survived, but after being delivered to Moscow, despite the efforts of doctors, the athlete, who received burns of more than 90% of the body surface, died.