The incredible story of Juliane Koepcke: The 17-year-old girl who fell two miles from an exploding plane and survived

Over the course of history, we have heard of many extraordinary Christmas stories - heart-warming, real-life tales of kindness and benevolence, and very occasionally, a miracle.

Juliane Koepcke’s story was just that - in a remarkable, a one-in-a-million chance, she not only managed to cheat certain death, but showed resilience to survive in the worst conditions possible, on her own without food or water, for almost two weeks.

Juliane was a 17-year-old student, born in Lima, Peru to German patents, zoologists Maria and Hans-Wilhelm Koepcke. Her father was working in Pucallpa, 500 kilometers to the north of the capital. She and her mother booked a flight to meet up with him so that the family could spend Christmas together.

On Christmas Eve 1971, at Lima‘s Jorge Chávez International Airport, Juliane and her mother boarded LANSA flight 508 bound for Iquitos - an hour-long flight with a scheduled stopover at Captain Rolden International Airport in Pucallpa. The plane, a 12-year-old, four-propeller Lockheed L-188A Electra, was due to take off early in the morning.

On board, were 86 passengers - most of them students returning home for Christmas, and six crew members, including captain, Carlos Forno Valera.

Reports of bad weather and heavy thunderstorms were passed to the pilots and Flight 508 was severely delayed, eventually taking off at 11:35, nearly six hours behind schedule.

A lightning bolt strikes the plane

Just 38 minutes after takeoff, a sudden and violent shift in the weather began to unsettle those onboard. Turbulence shook the plane as it passed through a severe thunderstorm over the Amazon rainforest. Captain Forno Valera told passengers to fasten their seatbelts.

In an attempt to escape the worst of the storm, the crew decides to descend several thousand feet from their initial altitude of 21,000 feet but the strong wind, rain and lightning continued, relentlessly lashing the airliner.

Then, disaster struck - a bolt of lightning hit the right wing, igniting one of the engines. The fire quickly spread, engulfing the plane and knocking out its electrical system. The plane broke in two and hurtling 10,000 feet towards the ground.

Juliane is flung from the plane

Strapped into her seat, Juliane was sucked out of the plane as it disintegrated, plummeting 10,000 feet. Miraculously, she landed in thick vegetation which cushioned the impact. She suffered a fractured collarbone, cuts and bruises but was alive.

Most of the other 85 passengers including her mother, perished but it is believed that 13 of them may have survived the crash only to die of their injuries. They had landed deep in the middle of the Amazonian rainforest, thousands of miles from civilization.

Juliane’s survival instincts kicked in. She spent nine days wandering through the rainforest, following the course of a creek to a river and then, had another stroke of good fortune - a small loggers’ hut provided her with shelter and a place to rest.

The loggers returned to find a surprise guest in their hut. Juliane had spent 11 days alone in the rainforest. They treated the cut on her wounded arm with gasoline, and used a canoe to transport her to the nearest inhabited area - a journey that took seven hours. Juliane was airlifted to hospital.

She had survived and in many ways, it was a Christmas miracle although sadly her mother had not - her body was discovered on January 12, 1972.

The story has been recounted in many books and films, such as Werner Herzog‘s Wings of Hope (1998) and Giuseppe Maria Scotese‘s Miracles Still Happen (1974).

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