Juliane Koepcke: The Girl Who Survived the Fall

Juliane Koepcke had two incredible stories of survival by the end of her terrifying ordeal. On Christmas Eve in 1971, Koepcke was traveling on LANSA Flight 508 when the plane was struck by lightning. The aircraft began to break apart midair, and Koepcke found herself still strapped to her seat, falling from nearly two miles above the Peruvian rainforest.

She was badly injured. Her body was bruised, and her collarbone was broken. But she was alive—the sole survivor of the crash. Now, she found herself completely alone in the vast jungle. With only a few candies as food, she managed to find a small stream. She followed it downstream, which helped her stay hydrated as she moved forward.

The jungle insects did not kill her, but maggots infested a wound on her arm. After nine days, she managed to find shelter. She gave herself first aid, which included pouring gasoline on the wound to remove the maggots. A few hours later, local lumber workers found her, gave her immediate help, and took her to a more populated area. From there, she was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital.

Her extraordinary story was later told in the 2000 documentary film Wings of Hope, directed by Werner Herzog, who had nearly boarded the same flight before canceling his seat at the last moment.

Related: How to survive a fall from 35,000 feet.