Juliane Koepcke, the girl who fell from the sky and spent 11 days in the jungle

Juliane, a 17-year-old girl, was the only survivor of a plane accident and spent 11 days in the jungle before making her way back to civilization on her own.

Juliane Koepcke, 17, and her mother, Maria, went from Lima, Peru, to Pucallpa one day after graduating from high school in 1971.

Juliane’s father, Hans-Wilhelm, a well-known German zoologist working at a research station in the Amazon rainforest, was waiting them.

Juliane intended to follow in her parents’ footsteps and work as a researcher.

Lansa 508 crashes

The plane entered dense black clouds after about 30 minutes of flying.

“The flight became more tumultuous as the clouds grew heavier and denser. Then, in the middle of a rainstorm, we awoke”, Juliane remarked.

“Everything was black and there was continual lightning all around us. Then, on the right wing, I noticed a brilliant light. Lightning struck the engine, and it was destroyed”, she stated.

Juliane’s mother’s final words to her were, “Let’s hope everything goes well.”

All she could hear were the passengers’ shouts and the engine’s deafening roar. As the fuselage gave way, a tremendous wind rushed into her ears.

Only 30 minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed.

Juliane Koepcke, still clinging to her seat, was dragged off the plane by powerful currents and landed empty approximately 3,000 meters into the Peruvian Amazon.

Juliane made it through as if by a miracle.

Juliane regained consciousness after the woods cushioned her fall.

She was the only one of the 91 passengers on Lansa 508 who survived.

The girl who stayed in the wild for 11 days

Juliane lost consciousness several times over the next three hours, but she was able to recover.

She headed out into the wilderness with a fractured collarbone to save her life.

She fought for her life for the following 11 days.

“Because I felt dizzy, it took me half a day just to be able to get up.” Juliane remarked.

She eventually healed and started looking for her mother. She spent an entire day looking for her before giving up.

Juliane came across a creek while looking for her mother.

Her father once gave her an advice, telling her that if she ever got lost in the rainforest and came upon a river, she should follow it downstream.

People prefer to live near water. And if the river is long enough, it will eventually reach civilization.

The fourth day

Juliane identified 3 passengers on the plane on her fourth day in the forest. All three of them were tied to chairs. They had all died.

She discovered a bag of candy on one of the chairs, which provided her with food for the rest of the journey.

Simultaneously, she noticed planes and helicopters in the sky. Rescue teams were on the lookout for survivors.

The wreck and Juliane were not visible due to the dense forest.

The ninth day

Juliane discovered a cottage on the ninth day. She chose to spend the night there.

She began to hear voices at one point. The girl believed she was going insane, and it was there that she died. The voices, on the other hand, were genuine.

Juliane says, “The first man I saw, I thought he was an angel.”

Despite their fear of the girl, which they mistook for a river spirit named Yemanjá, the three men who lived in the cottage allowed her to rest for another night.

After spending 11 days in the jungle, she returned to civilization

The three men escorted Juliane to a local dispensary after noticing her weakness.

Locals were familiar with the case of the crashed plane, and the doctor made the connection between the foreign girl and the plane tragedy.

Juliane was eventually reunited with her father, who had given up hope of ever seeing his family alive.

The young lady also assisted officials in locating the crash scene and recovering the bodies of the victims. Her mother’s body was among them.