An amazing survival story... I read about this years ago in a book. For some random reason I recalled it this morning, and within just a few minutes located the story on the web. The short version:
A passenger aircraft en route from Lima to Pucallpa (both in Peru) on Christmas eve in 1971 was struck by lightning. The aircraft was flying at 10,000 feet, and it disintegrated in mid-air. The 93 passengers and crew were all killed – except for one 17 year old girl who suffered no injury other than a broken collarbone. She fell out of the sky still strapped into her seat, then struck the rainforest canopy below – many miles from any civilization. Over a week later she found some lumbermen, who cared for her until rescuers arrived.
That young girl was Juliane Koepcke, who is now named Juliane Diller (I presume because she married) and is the librarian of the Bavarian State Zoological Collection in Munich, Germany. She published an autobiography a few years ago which has been translated into English: When I Fell from the Sky. I've just purchased it for my Kindle...
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