On Christmas Eve 1971, a plane flying from the capital of Peru was struck by lightning and crashed down.
Only one girl, Juliana Köpke, survived. But her misfortunes did not end there - after all, she was left alone in the rainforests of the Amazon …
Juliana was born in 1954 in Lima, Peru, but had German citizenship. Her parents - Hans and Maria Koepke - were biologists conducting research in South America.
On December 24, 1971, 17-year-old Juliana flew with her mother from Lima to Pucallpa, where her father was waiting for them. The family was planning to celebrate Christmas and vacation together.
Plane crash
The plane that Juliana and her mother flew was owned by LANSA Lockheed Electra.
When the ship took off, it got into a severe thunderstorm. Lightning struck the plane and at an altitude of about 3 km it collapsed. Passengers and debris crashed to the ground.
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Juliana, still strapped to her chair, fell into the rainforest.
According to experts, it was the chair that saved the girl - it slowed down the fall and softened the impact on the ground.
Jungle wandering
Juliana was lying on the ground. She had a broken collarbone, a damaged arm, and a huge swelling in her right eye.
The girl tried to find her mother, but to no avail - she was not among the wreckage of the plane, body fragments and suitcases. But Juliana found a bag of sweets, which became her only food for the next 10 days.
Anyone unfamiliar with the Amazon rainforest would hardly be able to survive there. Fortunately, Juliana spent 18 months at the research station with her parents a few years ago. While living there, she learned about the dangers lurking in the rainforest and, most importantly, learned to avoid them.
She walked slowly and carefully through the thickets, and soon came across a small stream.
Juliana knew that the water would give her some protection from the dangers of the forest and lead her out to humans.
The girl spent most of the 11 days making her way down the stream.
She hardly slept, and insect larvae appeared in the wounds on her arm. But the girl kept walking, knowing that this was the only way she could be saved.
Happy salvation
Finally, after nine days of her wanderings, Juliana stumbled upon a motor boat. But even after everything that happened to her, she did not dare to take the boat without asking and patiently waited for the owner for several hours.
Finally, men - foresters - came up to the boat. They were very surprised to see a German high school student in the middle of the forest.
In Spanish, Juliana quickly introduced herself and talked about everything that had happened to her.
The men treated her wounds, allowed her to rest and on the first occasion sent her to Pucallpa, where she met her father.
Juliana with her parents before the disaster.
As it turned out, she was the only surviving passenger. Her mother's body was discovered on January 12th. The woman also survived the fall, but died a couple of days later from her injuries.
Upon learning of this, Juliana was terribly upset - a feeling of guilt settled in her forever for the fact that she did not find and save her mother.
After all that happened, the girl returned to Germany to receive a biology diploma like her parents. After graduating, she returned to Peru and began studying bats.
Her amazing story of double survival has been the subject of countless programs, books and films, including the documentary Wings of Hope directed by Werner Herzog.
Herzog was unusually interested in this story, as he was supposed to fly that doomed flight, but at the last moment his plans changed and he narrowly escaped disaster.
