How Juliane Koepcke Survived A Plane Crash And 11 Days Alone In The Amazon

On December 24, 1971, Lanza Flight 508 from Lima to Pucapa, Peru, was struck by lightning. Now considered the deadliest lightning strike in aviation history, it caused a crash that ultimately led to the demise of everyone on board, except for one 17-year-old girl. Today, we're going to explain how Juliana Kopka survived a plane crash and 11 days alone in the Amazon. Kopka's hazy, disjointed recollections of the flight and the crash are nothing short of pure nightmare fuel. It was the day after her senior prom and just a few hours after her high school graduation ceremony. She was flying with her mother between Pukapa and Lima so they could celebrate with her father. Along the way, the plane encountered a storm. The sky became pitch black all around them, and lightning was constantly flashing outside the windows. While her mother was concerned, Juliana, who loved to fly, didn't think much of it. Suddenly, there was a bright light on the wing, and her mother said, now it's over. The engine roared. People screamed. The plane plunged sharply towards the ground and began to break apart. Juliana's mother was thrown from her seat. Finally, Juliana, along with her seat bench, was sucked from the fuselage and out into the sky. Kopka says she felt a calming wind as she plummeted toward the thick forest canopy, which she later recalled as resembling green cauliflower or broccoli. Her seat, which she was still belted to, rotated like a helicopter blade. She suspects this may have played a role in slowing her descent and that the seat itself must have cushioned her fall. Yeah, think about that the next time a flight attendant reminds you to buckle up. Juliana blacked out before impact, and due to a concussion, she retains no memory of the next 20 hours or so. She suspects she must have awakened during this period and removed her seat belt, because it was off by the time she fully regained consciousness. It was 9 AM the morning after the crash, a fact she could tell thanks to her watch, which at this point was still functioning. It was also pouring rain. Copco was soaking wet, dirty, and partially underneath her seat bench. She crawled fully under it to escape the rain while she regained her strength. According to Kopka, I couldn't really feel anything. It was like being wrapped in cotton balls. With a lot of effort, I could only get up on my knees, and then everything turned black again. It would be a full day and a half before she was able to get up and walk. Juliana could tell her collarbone was badly broken. There was a sharp break that was overlapping beneath her skin, but luckily had not punctured through. She also had a deep laceration on her calf, but because she was in shock, it wasn't bleeding too much. Another cut on her arm had become infected with maggots. She feared that this might mean the arm would eventually have to be amputated, but at this point, there was nothing she could do about it. Doctors would later discover she also fractured her shin, strained her vertebra, and tore her ACL. Likely due to the effects of adrenaline, she didn't feel any of those things until much later, after she had reached a hospital. Once she felt strong enough, Juliana forced herself to her feet. Most people would probably be terrified to find themselves alone and injured in the middle of a jungle, teeming with snakes, crocodiles, and all manner of poisonous flora and fauna. But Juliana Copka had a very unique childhood. Her mother, a world-renowned ornithologist, and her father, a famous zoologist, worked at a research station in, would you believe it, a Peruvian rainforest. Yes. Juliana had been raised in a very similar area, and her familiarity with the types of terrain was a major factor in her survival. It also meant she never became overly afraid of her situation. Kouka herself mused, I learned a lot about life in the rainforest, that it wasn't too dangerous. It's not the green hell that the world always thinks. No, Juliana wasn't afraid for herself. She was afraid for her mother. Once she was able, Kopka began to scout the area immediately around her crash site for other survivors and resources. She was careful to leave a trail since she knew how easy it was to get lost in the jungle. On the fourth day after the crash, she heard a sound she recognized as a king vulture landing in the forest. She knew from her ornithologist mother that this particular type of vulture only landed when carrion, or rotting flesh, was in the immediate vicinity. Following the sound, she discovered the remains of three other passengers, still strapped to their seats They had impacted the ground with such force that they were buried three feet deep, with only their feet remaining visible. One of the victims was a woman, and Kopka initially feared it might be her mother. However, poking her with a stick, she was able to discern that the woman had painted toenails, which her mother did not. During those first few days, Koka would occasionally hear the sounds of rescue planes overhead. Because the forest canopy was so thick, she wasn't able to see them. And more frustratingly, she could not get their attention. Eventually, the sounds of the planes disappeared, and she realized they were no longer searching for survivors. She would later describe these as her most hopeless moments. And she realized she would have to rely on herself if she was going to escape the rainforest alive. Finding water was as simple as licking droplets off leaves, but finding food was no easy task. She didn't have the tools necessary to fish or hack at edible stems and roots, and she knew a great deal of what else grew in the rainforest was poisonous. Though it wasn't much, Kopka had been lucky enough to discover a bag of candy near where she landed. That candy would be her only sustenance, and she rationed it carefully, eating just a couple of pieces each day. Once it was gone, she experienced extreme hunger. At one point, Juliana briefly considered trying to catch and eat some wild frogs she had spotted, but discovered she was too weak and slow to get them. This ultimately turned out to be a good thing, since she later learned they were venomous dart frogs that likely would have ended her. Juliana searched the area she landed in for other survivors, but she didn't find any. She did, however, find a small well. It reminded her of some advice her father had given her as a child. He told her if she was ever lost in the jungle, she should follow the water sources to find rescue. The idea was that each tiny stream would lead to a bigger one, and eventually to one big enough to be a water source for potential rescuers. Juliana has stated that had she found other survivors, she probably would have stayed put and waited with them. She realized that likely would have cost her her life. Without anyone else to wait with, she decided to start at the well and follow the water. Progress was slow and difficult. Kopka was wearing only a short sleeveless mini dress, which made the nights very cold for her. Her watch had also stopped working, which meant she had to keep a close eye on the sun to tell time. She was also missing a shoe, which was particularly worrisome given that she knew there were snakes that liked to camouflage themselves among the leaves on the forest floor. Complicating things even further was the fact that she had also lost her glasses in the plane crash. Taken together, all this meant that she had to constantly use her remaining shoe to probe the path ahead of her before she could take even one step. Eventually, the creek she was following became deep enough to walk in. Despite the fact that Kopka could see crocodiles slipping in and out of the water, she knew they seldom bothered humans and that by traveling by water was ultimately safer than traveling by land. As she followed the water, Kopka noticed that the way was often blocked by logs, a sign that the area wasn't well-traveled and might not lead her to rescuers. Blocking these discouraging thoughts out, Juliana continued on. Then on the 10th day after the crash of Lanza Flight 508, Kopka spotted a boat. At first, she thought she was hallucinating. But she moved toward it and found herself actually able to touch it. Once she determined the boat was real, her adrenaline kicked in. Near the riverbank where she spotted the boat, Kopka saw a path leading up into the forest. Assuming her rescuers had gone in that direction, she tried to make her own way up the path. By this point, she was so weak she could only crawl. Even worse, the maggots that had infected the cut on her right arm were causing her intense pain as they tried to burrow further into the wound. Luckily, at the top of the path, she came across a small hut that had a can of gasoline in it. She recalled that in her childhood, her father had used kerosene to treat a dog who had a similar wound. Juliana sucked the gasoline from the can and applied it to her wound. The pain was intense, but it worked. She removed 30 maggots herself. Her rescuers would later remove another 50. But thanks to this quick thinking action, she never had to lose her arm. With no one else in sight, Kopka tried to sleep in the hut under a tarp, but found the ground too hard. She returned to the riverbank and spent the night there. In the morning, she returned to the hut. This time, she was discovered by three Peruvian men. They were confused by her presence and frightened by her bloodshot eyes and blonde hair. Kopka later explained, they believe in all sorts of ghosts there, and at first, they thought I was one of these water spirits called Yimana. They are blond, supposedly. Luckily, Juliana spoke fluent Spanish and was able to explain her situation to them in their own language. The next day, these men took her downstream in their boat to a nearby town where she was able to get treatment at a local hospital. Juliana was the only survivor of Lanza Flight 508. But it's interesting to note the crash almost claimed one more. Film director Werner Herzog was almost on the flight. But a last minute change in plans caused him to cancel his reservations. Inspired by this twist of fate, he would later create the documentary Wings of Hope. To tell the incredible tale of Juliana Kopka's survival.