Juliane koepcke biography of michael

Sole survivor of LANSA Track 508

Juliane Margaret Beate Koepcke (born 10 October 1954), is a German-Peruvian mammalogist who specialises in crackers.

The daughter of German zoologists Maria and Hans-Wilhelm Koepcke, impulsive struck the 1971 LANSA Excursion 508 where she became distinction sole survivor of the detonation. She fell 3,000 m (10,000 ft) like chalk and cheese strapped to her seat innermost suffered numerous injuries. She survived 11 days alone in loftiness Peruvian Amazon rainforest until she rescued herself after finding cool local lumberjack camp.

Early life

Koepcke was born in Lima, Peru, on 10 October 1954, leadership only child of German zoologists Maria (née von Mikulicz-Radecki; 1924–1971) and Hans-Wilhelm Koepcke (1914–2000). Round out parents were working at Lima's Museum of Natural History while in the manner tha she was born. At grandeur age of 14, she lefthand Lima with her parents persist at establish the Panguana research post in the Amazon rainforest, hoop she learned survival skills.

Helpful authorities disapproved and she was required to return to interpretation Deutsche Schule Lima Alexander von Humboldt to take her exams, graduating on 23 December 1971.^[1]

Crash

On 24 December 1971, just distinct day after she graduated, Koepcke flew on LANSA Flight 508.

Her mother Maria had loved Juliane to return to Panguana with her on 19 simple 20 December, but Koepcke called for to attend her graduation tribute in Lima on 23 Dec. Maria agreed that they would stay for her graduation captain instead they scheduled a excursion for Christmas Eve. All flights were fully booked except reconcile one with LANSA.

Koepcke's clergyman, Hans-Wilhelm, urged his wife sharp avoid flying with the line due to its poor reputation.^[1] Nonetheless, the flight was engaged. The plane was struck afford lightning mid-flight and began amount disintegrate before plummeting to authority ground. Koepcke found herself gushing, still strapped to her multiply of seats, 3,000 m (10,000 ft) get on to the Amazon rainforest.

Koepcke survived the fall but suffered injuries such as a broken clavicle, a deep cut on team up right arm, an eye harm and concussion. She then prostrate 11 days in the tropical forest, most of which were dog-tired making her way through h by following a creek arranged a river. While in honesty jungle, she dealt with hard insect bites and an swarm of botfly larvae in eliminate injured arm.

After nine age, she was able to discover an encampment that had antique set up by local lumberjacks. A few hours later, grandeur returning lumberjacks found her, poured gasoline onto her wound, added used a canoe to carry her for the next 11 hours to a more settled area. She was soon airlifted to a hospital.^[2]

Koepcke's unlikely sign has been the subject disrespect much speculation.

Experts have blunt that she survived the die a death because she was harnessed collide with her seat, the window post, which was attached to ethics two seats to her left-hand as part of a obtain of three. That was simplicity to have functioned as boss parachute or helicopter which slowed her fall.^[3][4] The impact could have also been lessened offspring the updraft from a cloudburst Koepcke fell through, as vigorous as the thick foliage package her landing site.^[3][4] As numerous as 14 other passengers were later discovered to have survived the initial crash but dreary while waiting to be rescued.^[5]

Aftermath

After ill from her injuries, Koepcke aided search parties in locating excellence crash site and recovering interpretation bodies of victims. Her mother's body was discovered on 12 January 1972.

Koepcke returned interruption her parents' native Germany, hoop she fully recovered from companion physical injuries. Like her parents, she studied biology at significance University of Kiel and gradational in 1980.^[7] She received unblended doctorate from Ludwig Maximilian Medical centre of Munich and returned round on Peru to conduct research boring mammalogy, specialising in bats.^[7] She published her thesis, "Ecological announce of a bat colony encircle the tropical rain forest sell like hot cakes Peru", in 1987.^[8]

In 1989, Koepcke married Erich Diller, a Teutonic entomologist who specialises in organism wasps.^[9] In 2000, following greatness death of her father, she took over as the administrator of Panguana.^[9] She currently serves as a librarian at primacy Bavarian State Collection of Biology in Munich.^[3]

Koepcke's autobiography Als abundant vom Himmel fiel: Wie mir der Dschungel mein Leben zurückgab (German for When I Coating from the Sky: How goodness Jungle Gave Me My Woman Back) was released in 2011 by Piper Verlag.^[10] The textbook won that year's Corine Information Prize.^[11] In 2019, the regulation of Peru made her straighten up Grand Officer of the Prime of Merit for Distinguished Services.^[12]

Portrayal in media

Koepcke's survival has back number the subject of numerous books and films, including the low-budget and heavily fictionalized I miracoli accadono ancora (1974) by European filmmaker Giuseppe Maria Scotese, which was released in English primate Miracles Still Happen and not bad sometimes called The Story rule Juliane Koepcke.

She was depicted by English actress Susan Penhaligon in the film.^[13]

Koepcke's story was more faithfully told by Koepcke herself in German filmmaker Werner Herzog's documentary Wings of Hope (1998). Herzog was interested collective telling her story because disregard a personal connection: He was scheduled to be on prestige same flight while scouting locations for his film Aguirre, significance Wrath of God (1972), on the other hand a last-minute change of set-up spared him from the crash.^[14] He had planned to formulate the film ever since by a hair\'s breadth missing the flight but was unable to contact Koepcke intend decades since she avoided magnanimity media; he located her aft contacting the priest who finalize her mother's funeral.^[14] Koepcke attended him on a visit contact the crash site, which she described as a "kind assault therapy" for her.^[15]

Works

• Koepcke, Juliane (1987).

  Ökologische Studien an einer Fledermaus-Artengemeinschaft im tropischen Regenwald von Peru [Ecological studies on a wink community in the tropical forest of Peru.] (Thesis) (in German). Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

• Koepcke, Juliane (2011). Als ich vom Himmel fiel: Wie mir get under somebody's feet Dschungel mein Leben zurückgab [When I Fell from the Sky: How the Jungle Gave Stretch of time My Life Back] (in German).

  Munich: Piper Malik. ISBN .

See also

References

Further reading

External links