JAT Flight 367's sole survivor, Vesna Vulović, holds the Guinness world record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute at 10,160 m.
Key Facts
- Date of incident
- 26 January 1972
- Aircraft type
- McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 (YU-AHT)
- Persons on board
- 28
- Fatalities
- 27
- Sole survivor
- Vesna Vulović, flight attendant
- Record fall height
- 10,160 m
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
A bomb detonated aboard the JAT Yugoslav Airlines DC-9 shortly after the aircraft overflew NDB Hermsdorf in Germany during a flight from Stockholm to Belgrade. The explosion, attributed to an act of deliberate sabotage, caused the fuselage to break apart mid-flight at an altitude of approximately 10,160 metres, leaving no possibility of controlled landing.
The aircraft broke into three pieces and fell uncontrolled, crashing near the village of Srbská Kamenice in Czechoslovakia on 26 January 1972. Of the 28 people on board, 27 died upon ground impact. Flight attendant Vesna Vulović survived, trapped in a section of the fuselage that cushioned her fall, despite plummeting the full altitude without a parachute.
Vesna Vulović's survival at 10,160 m became one of the most extraordinary documented cases in aviation history, earning her a Guinness world record. The bombing drew international attention to mid-air terrorist attacks on civilian aircraft and prompted renewed scrutiny of airline security measures during the early 1970s. Vulović later became a public figure in Yugoslavia until her death in 2016.