Incredible and fantastic cases of survival in plane crashes (22 photos). Plane crash survivors: real stories Are there any plane crash survivors?

By far the fastest and comfortable view The modern mode of transport is the airplane. Moreover, quite often it is by 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 because they consider plane crashes to be a frequent occurrence. And this is not at all surprising, because if you analyze numerous feature films about plane crashes, you can really come to the conclusion that planes crash almost every day and the passengers have practically no chance to survive. In fact, this is, of course, not the case, but this fact is confirmed by numerous survivors of the plane crash. We will present real stories about the lucky ones who managed to escape plane crashes in this article as a convincing example.

Of course, the plane was and will be the most comfortable and in a safe way transport, but even such a powerful and reliable car should first of all be considered as technology. And as you know, problems can happen with any machine, which leads to emergency situations. According to analytical studies, the main cause of disasters, sad as it may be to admit, is human factor. After all, technology cannot spoil itself and disable itself; this happens due to the inattention and negligent attitude of a person. If low-quality components were used when assembling the machine, this process was not given due attention, and 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 a plane crash indicate that the car in the sky simply begins to behave somehow incorrectly, and at this time alarming “lights” begin to flash on board, which further escalates the already alarming situation. Experts say that any breakdown in the sky is a defect and specialists need to find it on the ground in order to prevent an emergency from occurring.

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 because of this reason, that is, due to ordinary human negligence and inattention;
errors made by pilots and maintenance personnel;
unfavorable conditions that can change dramatically along the airliner's route.

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 so as not to create an emergency situation, there are still survivors in almost every accident after a plane crash. 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 managed to survive plane crashes

Rescuers carry survivors from the scene of a plane crash near Jose Maria Cordova airport in Colombia.

It may seem to many that those who managed to survive the plane crash were simply lucky, that is, they were, as they say, 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 of the plane crash were able to save their lives not only because of a favorable combination of circumstances, but also thanks to the knowledge and rules that they took in a timely manner in extreme situation.

This applies to the surviving crew member of the Yugoslav airliner - flight attendant V. Vulovich, who was 22 years old at the time of the accident. Unfortunately, in the history of those who survived, it is not so often possible to come across the names of airline crew members, perhaps this is explained by 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 saving passengers.

And V. Vulovich still managed to miraculously escape from 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 occurred in 1972, during an air flight from Copenhagen to Zagreb, which was operated by a Yugoslav air carrier. Despite a terrible explosion in the sky, the flight attendant survived the plane crash. According to experts, such an incredible rescue can be explained by the fact that the flight attendant was in the safest place at the time of the explosion - in the middle of the cabin and at a decent distance from the bomb. By luck, the flight attendant who survived the plane crash was in a compartment separated from the body, 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 the happy story of a Yugoslav flight attendant who miraculously escaped. If it weren’t for the help of a local resident, who, upon seeing the girl, immediately freed her from the wreckage of the plane and took her to the nearest hospital, Vesna Vulovich could have simply frozen to death in the cold forest. The surviving flight attendant, after the plane crashed from such a great height, lay in a coma for more than a month, and after that she still had to wage a desperate fight for her life for almost 1.5 years. The girl was able to withstand serious tests and soon fully recovered both physically and mentally, and her truly “fantastic” jump from a height of 10 thousand km without a parachute was listed in the Guinness Book of Records. The legitimate certificate to the world-famous flight attendant was presented by her idol, Paul McCartney, which brought the heroine to incredible delight.

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

Cecilia Sichan

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

Cecilia went on an air trip with her parents. The problem that caused the plane crash showed itself on takeoff - the pilot was unable to turn the steering wheel correctly, as a result of which the left plane of the wing caught the lighting mast, and a terrible flame instantly engulfed the wing. Air transport changed the flight path, which led to the crash and explosion of the plane. The airliner fell on motorway, a terrible explosion followed instantly. Experts found the wreckage of the car and the mutilated bodies of those on board half a mile from the crash site.

Medics and fire services arrived at the scene of the tragedy immediately, but the horror of the picture that presented itself made it clear that there was no one to save in this place. However, the 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 to the child’s voice. Seeing a small hand reaching out of the rubble, 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 her head and limbs, and her body was also severely burned. But despite everything, this little traveler was the only one who managed to survive the terrible tragedy. For a full recovery, the girl had to undergo several operations, including 4 skin grafts. Her aunt and uncle began to take care of Cecilia. As soon as the girl grew up, she decided to get an airliner tattoo on her arm as a constant reminder of the terrible and at the same time happy day in her life. Today, Cecilia continues to use modern aircraft, and when asked frequently whether you are afraid of air travel, she answers jokingly, “No, I’m not afraid, since a shell certainly doesn’t hit the same place twice.”

Russian accident

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

For surviving a fall without a parachute from a height of more than 5 thousand km.
For receiving the very minimum compensation, in the amount of 75 rubles, which is paid by the state as damage to all victims.
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 has small sizes, could not withstand the terrible blow and simply fell into pieces high in the sky. At the time of the collision, the happy passenger was resting in her seat, wearing a seat belt. She was brought out of her sleep by a severe burn caused by the fire, which was rapidly gaining strength due to depressurization.

Larisa was familiar with the rules of safe flight, so she did not unfasten her seat belts and sank into her seat as much as possible. As the girl will later explain, the plot of the film from the Italian directors “Miracles Still Happen” helped her survive, in which the main character was able to survive thanks to a fastened belt and the correct body position. The part of the plane the girl was in fell onto tree branches, which significantly 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 the birch forest and even built a shelter for herself for a safe overnight stay. It took rescue teams 48 hours to find the lucky passenger, whose name had already been added to the list of dead.

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 burnt bodies and plane wreckage around. The girl had serious head and back injuries; for a full recovery she needed to undergo several operations, which Larisa was able to cope with 100%.

Erica Delgado's Story

Erica Delgado

Many were worried about the recovery of the 9-year-old, one surviving passenger McDonnell aircraft Douglas DC-9-14, Erica Delgado. The air transport carried 47 passengers on board to Bogota from Cartagena. Only Erica managed to escape death. The cause of the plane crash was a breakdown of the altimeter, as a result of which the plane was unable to land safely and simply crashed in a swampy area.

The girl was on board with her parents and brother; according to her, she was pushed out of the plane, which literally began to fall apart before her eyes, by the hands of her mother. Literally a few seconds later, the air transport was engulfed in flames and a terrible explosion occurred. Erica fell on the seaweed, but she could not get out of the swamp on her own. According to the girl, within a few minutes local residents arrived at the scene of the tragedy, but not to save the victims, but for the purpose of profit. According to Erica, they ignored her pleas for help, but the looters quickly tore the gold jewelry from her neck and hurried away. But her rescuer turned out to be a local farmer, who, having heard the child’s cry, hurried to the girl’s aid. Surprisingly, in such a terrible accident, Erica escaped with only a broken arm.

More stories from Russia

In a crash Russian plane Yak-42, flying on the route Yaroslavl - Minsk, in 2011, there were two survivors. The plane was supposed to deliver a hockey team to Minsk after it crashed air transport rescuers found two survivors - athlete A. Galimov and A. Sizov, flight engineer of the crashed aircraft. Unfortunately, the efforts of doctors did not help save the life of the hockey player, as he received serious burns to his body that were incompatible with life. The flight engineer was much luckier; despite numerous fractures and bruises, Alexander was able to fully regain 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 it is quite possible to save your life in a plane crash; the most important thing is that passengers must 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 crew members. You definitely need to soberly assess the current situation and slowly make the right decision.

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To Khabarovsk. As previously reported, doctors diagnosed her with a compound fracture of her ankle and suspected a traumatic brain injury. Let us remind you that the child is the only surviving passenger of the L-410 plane, which crashed near the village of Nelkan on Wednesday afternoon. Besides her, there were six more people on board - all died.

The rescue of a girl who literally fell from the sky is already called a miracle. Meanwhile, this is far from an isolated case. The history of aviation knows many other times when people managed to survive the most monstrous disasters. Even if the chance of salvation was one in a million.

One of the last: when on June 20, 2011, a Tu-134 crashed near Petrozavodsk. There were 52 people on board. We flew at night, visibility was poor. During the landing approach, the plane hit a 50-meter pine tree. A couple of seconds later he was torn into pieces. But five survived. Including Alexander Kargopolov. Thrown out of the cabin by a monstrous force, she fell onto the arable land. It saved a life. I recovered quickly physically, but I couldn’t find peace of mind for several years. “You can’t cope with grief alone,” she admitted. “You always need someone to be nearby.”

One of the most major disasters occurred on August 12, 1985 in Japan. A Japan Airlines Boeing 747 carrying 524 passengers and crew took off from Tokyo to Osaka. 12 minutes after takeoff, the plane's tail came off. With incredible efforts, the pilots held the uncontrollable car for another 32 minutes... The airliner crashed in the mountains. Rescuers did not even hope to see survivors. The greater the shock when we discovered four (!) at once. They were all sitting where the casing had been torn apart.

On August 16, 1989, a Northwest Airlines DC-9 took off from Detroit Airport. There are 154 people on board, including 4-year-old Secilia Sichan, who was flying with her parents and older brother. As it took off, the plane began to rock. It hit the lighting mast and part of the left wing was torn off. DC-9 crashed to the ground...

One of the firefighters heard a thin squeak among the smoldering debris. Little Cecilia, who received severe fractures and burns, was the only one who managed to escape. She underwent four operations. The girl was taken into the family by her aunt and uncle. When Cecilia grew up, she got a tattoo of an airplane on her wrist. She admits that she is not at all afraid of flying: she is convinced that such horror simply cannot happen again.

And, of course, the story of the Russian woman Larisa Savitskaya is amazing. On August 24, 1981, a 20-year-old student was returning from honeymoon with her husband Vladimir. We flew on an An-24 from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Blagoveshchensk. Over the city of Zavitinsk at an altitude of 5200 meters, their plane collided with a Tu-16 bomber.

Larisa was sleeping when she felt a strong blow. And she sank into a chair. For eight minutes she fell from a height of 5200 meters on a piece of aircraft 3 meters wide and 4 meters long. The only one of 38 people who survived. I spent two days before the rescuers arrived. She also managed to survive on earth. Doctors diagnosed her with a concussion, spinal injuries, and fractures. Then they wrote that compensation to the relatives of the victims amounted to 300 rubles. Larisa received... 75 rubles. Because she survived.

She got married and gave birth to a son. I was sick a lot. She said: she’s not at all afraid of flying on an airplane. “But when I talk about what happened, I am then tormented by insomnia,” Larisa admitted. That's why I avoided journalists.

More from the history of miracles

On January 26, 1972, a Yugoslav DC-9 exploded at an altitude of 10,160 meters. He was torn to pieces. In the middle section was 22-year-old flight attendant Vesna Vulovic. Together with the debris, it fell onto the forest, which softened the blow. Vesna spent 27 days in a coma and 16 months in the hospital, but survived.

On January 11, 1995, a DC-9-14 was flying from Bogota to Cartagena with 47 passengers and 5 crew members on board. During landing, the plane crashed into a swamp. 9-year-old Erica Delgado was thrown from the plane. She escaped with a broken arm. No one else was saved.

On June 30, 2009, a Yemeni A-310 was flying from Paris to the Comoros Islands. There were 153 people on board, including 13-year-old Bahia Bakari. A few minutes before landing, the plane crashed into Indian Ocean. Bahia was thrown through the porthole. With bruises and a broken collarbone, she managed to climb onto one of the pieces that remained afloat. The girl spent 9 hours on it.

Survive a plane crash... Indeed, throughout history civil aviation there were many passengers who managed to avoid tragedies. Some of them overslept or were late for the ill-fated flight and thanks to this they remained alive. But there are also truly miraculous salvations that are simply impossible to explain. We have made a selection of the most incredible stories about people who survived plane crashes.

1. A terrible plane crash in Peru in December 1971 killed 92 people. A Lockheed L-188A aircraft was struck by lightning while flying over tropical forest at an altitude of 3 km. The liner fell apart and it seemed that no one was left alive. But 9 days after the tragedy, a surviving passenger of the “deadly flight” LANSA 508 was found - 17-year-old Juliana Margaret Kepke (in the main photo - note Ed.). The schoolgirl had a broken collarbone, a bruised face, and bruises all over her body. And this - after a fall from a height of 3000 meters! She was not found immediately - Juliana survived alone in the wild conditions of the jungle for more than a week. As Juliana herself later admitted, during the plane crash, the row of seats to which she was fastened rotated like a helicopter blade, which slowed down the speed of the fall. She was also lucky in that the seats collapsed with her into the dense crowns of trees, thereby softening the “landing”. By the way, the story that happened to Juliana Kepke formed the basis of the Italian film “Miracles Still Happen.”

2. An-24 passenger Larisa Savitskaya remembered exactly this very picture “Miracles Still Happen” in 1981. The woman was returning with her husband from their honeymoon, but, unfortunately, they beautiful story love was interrupted at an altitude of 5 km at Far East. On August 24, 1981, the plane they were flying in collided with a Soviet Air Force Tu-16 bomber. Of the 32 people, only 20-year-old Larisa survived. At the time of the disaster, the woman was fast asleep, clinging to her husband. Savitskaya woke up from a strong blow - the plane broke into pieces. She was thrown into the aisle and despite all the horror of what was happening, Larisa managed to firmly grab the nearest chair and press herself into it, like the heroine of the film “Miracles Still Happen.”

Having already found herself on the ground, Larisa saw in front of her a chair with dead body husband Next to him, she waited for rescuers at the plane crash site for exactly two days.

Larisa Savitskaya is mentioned twice in the Guinness Book of Records: as a survivor of a plane crash and as someone who received the smallest compensation - 75 rubles!

3. The tragedy that occurred in the Andes also formed the basis for a feature film. "Alive" was released in 1993 - 21 years after the tragic known history. Uruguayan Airlines Flight 571 carrying 45 rugby players and their loved ones crashed on October 13, 1972. 10 people died immediately, while the rest had to survive for 72 days in the mountains without food.

It’s scary to imagine, but the unfortunate people even had to eat the meat of their dead comrades. A few days later, only 16 people remained alive. The rest died from hunger and cold. The surviving passengers were rescued on December 23, 1972.

4. The year 1972 was marred by another plane crash - on January 26, terrorists blew up a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-3 passenger plane flying from Copenhagen to Zagreb over the Czech town of Srpska Kamenice. The bomb was planted in the luggage compartment and detonated at an altitude of 10,160 m. 27 passengers and crew members were killed. Only 22-year-old flight attendant Vesna Vulovich survived. The woman had a fractured skull, both legs and three vertebrae were broken, but nevertheless she was alive.

For the next 27 days, Vesna was in a coma, and after that she was under the supervision of doctors in the hospital for another 16 months. Vulovich's miraculous rescue is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the highest altitude jump without a parachute.

5. One of the largest disasters in the history of Japanese civil aviation occurred on August 12, 1985. A Japan Airlines Boeing 747SR-46 crashed near Mount Takamagahara, 100 km from Tokyo.

Of the 520 passengers, only four women survived: 24-year-old Japan Airline employee Hiroko Yoshizaki, a 34-year-old passenger on the plane and her 8-year-old daughter Mikiko, and 12-year-old Keiko Kawakami, who was found sitting in a tree.

6. A photograph of little Cecilia Sichan in 1987 spread all over the world. A 4-year-old girl miraculously survived a plane crash in Detroit on August 16. The tragedy claimed the lives of 156 people, but how Cecilia survived such an incident is still a big mystery. The McDonnell Douglas MD-82 was unable to gain altitude - the plane skidded into a pole, then it overturned and, sliding along the road, flew into an overpass.

During the special operation, rescuers witnessed a heartbreaking picture: a tiny girl with huge eyes of fear sitting in her chair, and next to her were the bodies of her parents and 6-year-old brother.

7. In 2009, another tragedy shocked the world: an Airbus A310 crashed into the Indian Ocean off the coast of the Comoros Islands. There were 142 passengers and 11 crew members on board the plane, which was flying from the Yemeni capital Sanaa to the city of Moroni. It was simply impossible to find anyone alive.

But a miracle still happened: 10 hours after the tragedy, rescuers found a little girl in the ocean, who had spent all this time in the water without a life jacket. In addition, as the baby’s father later admitted, she didn’t even know how to swim! Bahia Bakari held onto the wreckage of the plane.

Today we decided to remember incredible incidents, list of air accidents that occurred with multi-seat aircraft, as a result of which, of all those on board, only one person survived.

On June 14, 1943, a plane carrying American soldiers on leave crashed in Australia. In conditions of poor visibility due to fog, the plane touched the tops of trees and crashed. Only Foy Kenneth Roberts survived (there were a total of 41 soldiers on board ), who received severe traumatic brain injuries. Doctors managed to save Roberts and he lived until 2004. However, as a result of his injuries, he forgot everything about the accident itself and lost the ability to speak.

Julianne Dealer Kopke survived a plane crash after falling from a height of 3 km

On December 23, 1971, 500 kilometers from the capital of Peru, Lima, as a result of being caught in a vast thunderstorm area, a passenger plane actually disintegrated in the air at an altitude of more than three kilometers.

“Suddenly an amazing silence reigned around me. The plane disappeared. I must have been unconscious and then came to. I was flying, spinning in the air, and could see the forest rapidly approaching below me.”

Seventeen-year-old girl Julianna Diller Kopke was the only survivor - she was fastened with a belt to a row of chairs and fell into the dense jungle. In the fall, she broke her collarbone, injured her arm and received a moderate head injury.For 9 days, Juliana wandered through the jungle, trying not to leave the stream, believing that sooner or later it would lead her to civilization. The stream also provided the girl with water. Nine days later, Juliana found a canoe and a shelter in which she hid and waited. Soon she was found in this shelter by lumberjacks.

On January 26, 1972, Croatian terrorists blew up a McDonnell Douglas DC-9−32 passenger plane belonging to JAT Yugoslav Airlines over the Czech town of Serbska Kamenice. The plane was traveling from Copenhagen to Zagreb, with 28 people on board. A bomb planted in the luggage compartment detonated at an altitude of 10,160 m. 27 passengers and crew members were killed, but 22-year-old flight attendant Vesna Vulovich remained alive after falling from a height of more than 10 km.

Vesna Vulovich

Vesna Vulovich fell from a height of 10,160 m after a plane crash and survived

When falling from a height of 10160 meters (the case is a record for survivors of a fall from high altitude ) received severe injuries to the spine and skull, and was unconscious when she was discovered. After that, she was in a coma for almost a month, the total duration of treatment was about one and a half years. After recovery, she was transferred to ground work at an airline; in Yugoslavia she was considered a national heroine.

Larisa Savitskaya

On August 24, 1981, passenger and military aircraft collided over the territory of the USSR. The only survivor was passenger Larisa Savitskaya, who ended up in the wreckage of the plane, where there were seats in which she took refuge. When falling from a height of more than five kilometers, Savitskaya received serious spinal injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and lost almost all her teeth. For three days she waited for rescuers, as the debris fell in the taiga. Unlike Vesna, Vulovich did not receive special support from the state: the fact of the disaster was hidden, the injuries she received individually did not allow her to register for disability and receive support from the state, she was paid a lump sum of 75 rubles as a survivor of the plane crash.

Larisa Savitskaya spent three days in the taiga after the plane crash

On January 13, 1995, a plane crashed in Colombia. forced landing in a swampy area. The landing was unsuccessful; when it hit the ground, the ship broke into pieces and exploded. The only survivor was a nine-year-old girl, Erica Delgado, who was thrown out of the plane by her mother as it began to fall apart. Erica fell into a pile of seaweed, but could not get out. According to her recollections, one of local residents tore off her gold necklace and disappeared, ignoring requests for help ( the bodies of the victims were also robbed). After some time, the girl was found by her cries for help and pulled out of the swamp by a local farmer.

On August 27, 2006, a passenger plane crashed during takeoff in Kentucky, USA. The crash was caused by the captain's mistaken choice runway, the length of which was too short for aircraft of this type, in the end only the co-pilot, James Polehink, survived, who, as a result of numerous injuries ( severe concussion, many fractures, lung punctured by ribs) lost his memory and did not remember anything related to the plane crash.

4-year-old Cecilia Sichan managed to survive a plane crash in 1989

On August 16, 1989, a regular flight, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9−82 of Northwest Airlines, began taking off from Detroit Airport. There were 157 people on board, including a 4-year-old girl, Cecilia Sichan. Her parents and six-year-old brother were flying with her.

The airliner began to sway already on takeoff; its left wing touched the lighting mast, part of the wing broke off and caught fire. The plane then pitched to the right and the other wing crashed through the roof of a car rental office. The plane crashed onto the highway, broke into pieces, and caught fire. Debris and victims' bodies were scattered over an area of more than half a mile.

Firefighter John Tied, who was working at the crash site, heard a thin squeak and saw a child's hand among the wreckage. A 4-year-old girl, who suffered a fractured skull, a broken leg and collarbone and third-degree burns, was the only one who managed to survive the disaster. She underwent four skin graft surgeries but managed to make a full recovery.

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

Baya Bakari

On June 30, 2009, a Yemeni airline plane crashed off the coast of the Comoros Islands, falling directly into the ocean. Of the 153 passengers, only thirteen-year-old Baya Bakari, a French woman flying to the Comoros from Marseille with her mother, survived. When the girl was thrown out of the plane during its collision with water, she received multiple bruises and broke her collarbone. She managed to get out of the water onto one of the wreckage of the plane, on which she remained for 14 hours, until she was discovered by the crew of a passing ship, who took the girl, who was suffering primarily from hypothermia, to the hospital.

In January 2010, Bakari published her autobiography, Survivor, with journalist Omar Guendouz.. In May of the same year the newspaperAOL Newspublished information that Steven Spielberg Bakari offered to purchase the film rights to her book, but she refused.

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