22-year-old flight stewardess was on the wrong plane when it exploded — 13 years later, Paul McCartney honored her with a Guinness World Records title
A 22-year-old stewardess was not scheduled to fly on 1972's Yugoslav Airlines Douglas DC-9 in Copenhagen that was flying to Belgrade. However, an hour into the flight, the jetliner exploded, killing everyone except her. In 1985, Beatles musician Paul McCartney awarded her with the Guinness World Record for her extraordinary survival story. A decade after her death, the stewardess still holds the record, as reported by PEOPLE on Monday, January 26, 2026.
Young stewardess Vesna Vulovic was not supposed to work on January 26, 1972. However, her first name was mistaken for another stewardess who was scheduled to board the Yugoslav Airlines Douglas DC-9 in Copenhagen. Vulovic, along with 27 others on board, was an hour into the flight to Belgrade when it exploded unexpectedly over the village of Srbska Kamenice. Vulovic, who was stuck inside a broken fuselage next to the food cart, fell 33,000 feet to the ground and landed in tree cover and snow. Hearing her scream, a woodsman rescued her and admitted her to a local hospital, where she spent 10 days in a coma. Unfortunately, Vulovic was the sole survivor, while the passengers and the rest of the crew could not be saved.
Vulovic survived the crash with multiple fractures, including broken legs, a fractured skull, three broken vertebrae, and a pelvis fracture. According to reports, the explosion was suspected to be caused by explosives hidden inside a suitcase. However, in 2009, investigative journalists alleged that Czechoslovak Air Force accidentally shot down the aircraft. In 1985, Beatles musician Paul McCartney presented Vulovic with a certificate and medal at the Guinness World Records Hall of Fame for surviving the highest fall without a parachute. Surprisingly, several decades later, Vulovic continues to hold that title.
Vulovic was never able to remember the events of the catastrophic crash. Following her recovery the same year, she began working at the office of Yugoslav Airlines, where she stayed for 18 years until she was forced to retire after protesting against President Slobodan Milosevic.
In 2016, at the age of 66, Vulovic breathed her last in her Belgrade home. She was devoted to her faith and country until her death, and even campaigned for the Democratic Party of President Boris Tadic. "I have had nine lives. But if nationalist forces in this country prevail, my heart will burst," she told a paper in 2008. A 2019 study published in the Journal of 'Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine' noted that during medical emergencies, people experience shifts in their behavior and perspective on life. Such events can increase the desire to live a healthy life and a sense of empowerment. Following the life-threatening tragedy, Vulovic turned to spirituality, but her willingness to work and fight for justice remained undiminished.