7 Unbelievable Stories of People Who Survived Falling From the Sky

You’ve probably heard the saying “it’s not the fall that kills you, it’s the sudden stop at the end.” But for these incredible individuals, even a fall from thousands of feet in the air wasn’t enough to end their lives. Buckle up as we dive into 7 jaw-dropping tales of survival against all odds!

1. Juliane Koepcke: The Teenage Jungle Survivor

On Christmas Eve 1971, 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke boarded LANSA Flight 508 with her mother, unaware that her life was about to change forever. When lightning struck the plane, Juliane found herself free-falling 10,000 feet into the Peruvian rainforest, still strapped to her seat.

Miraculously, Juliane survived the fall with only minor injuries. But her ordeal was far from over. For the next 11 days, she trekked through the dense jungle, battling dehydration, hunger, and the elements. Using survival skills learned from her zoologist parents, Juliane followed streams downstream until she finally encountered a group of loggers who rescued her.

2. Vesna Vulović: The World Record Holder

Serbian flight attendant Vesna Vulović holds the Guinness World Record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute. On January 26, 1972, a bomb exploded on JAT Flight 367, sending Vulović plummeting an astounding 33,330 feet.

Experts believe Vulović survived because she was trapped by a food cart inside a section of the aircraft’s fuselage, which landed on a heavily wooded, snow-covered mountainside. Despite suffering severe injuries, including a fractured skull and broken vertebrae, Vulović lived to tell her incredible tale.

3. Ivan Chisov: The Soviet Skydiver

During World War II, Soviet Air Force lieutenant Ivan Chisov found himself in a terrifying situation. Shot down by German forces in 1942, Chisov decided to delay opening his parachute to avoid enemy fire. However, the extreme cold caused him to lose consciousness, preventing him from deploying his chute.

Chisov fell an estimated 23,000 feet before landing on the edge of a snow-covered ravine. The angle of the slope helped disperse the energy of his fall, and he slid to the bottom. Remarkably, he survived with only severe injuries and was flying again just three months later.

4. Nicholas Alkemade: The Luckiest RAF Gunner

Royal Air Force Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade’s story seems almost too incredible to be true. On March 24, 1944, his bomber was shot down over Germany. With his parachute destroyed by fire, Alkemade chose to jump from 18,000 feet rather than burn to death.

In a stroke of unbelievable luck, Alkemade’s fall was broken by pine trees and a soft snow cover. Even more astonishingly, he survived with only a sprained leg. German soldiers who found him were so impressed by his tale that they reportedly treated him to a beer.

5. Alan Magee: The B-17 Ball Turret Gunner

American airman Alan Magee’s survival story is nothing short of miraculous. During a bombing mission over France in 1943, Magee’s B-17 bomber was damaged by enemy fire. As the plane broke apart, Magee was thrown from the ball turret without a parachute, falling 22,000 feet.

Magee crashed through the glass roof of the St. Nazaire railroad station, which somehow slowed his fall enough for him to survive. Despite suffering severe injuries, including broken bones and damage to his nose, eyes, lungs, and kidneys, Magee lived to the age of 84.

6. Larisa Savitskaya: The Honeymoon Miracle

Larisa Savitskaya’s honeymoon took a terrifying turn on August 24, 1981, when her plane collided with a military aircraft. The newlywed plummeted 17,130 feet inside a fragment of the plane’s fuselage, which acted as a makeshift cocoon.

Savitskaya’s fall was cushioned by trees and the swampy, forested terrain. Despite suffering a concussion, broken bones, and spinal injuries, she managed to survive for two days in the wilderness before being rescued. Remarkably, she was found sitting on a piece of the wreckage, smoking a cigarette.

7. James Boole: The Modern-Day Miracle

In a more recent incident, British skydiver James Boole survived a 6,000-foot fall in Russia in 2009. Boole was filming another skydiver for a television documentary when he mistimed his parachute deployment, crashing into a snow-covered mountainside at an estimated 100 mph.

Despite the horrific impact, Boole survived with a broken back and rib. Astonishingly, he was walking again within a week. His survival is attributed to the deep snow that cushioned his landing and the fact that he was able to adopt a position that distributed the impact across his body.