LANSA Flight 508 was a Lockheed L-188A Electra turboprop, registered OB-R-941, operated as a scheduled domestic passenger flight by Lineas Aéreas Nacionales Sociedad Anonima (LANSA), which crashed in a thunderstorm en route from Lima to Pucallpa in Peru on 24 December 1971, killing 91 people — all six of its crew and 85 of its 86 passengers.[1] It is the deadliest lightning strike disaster in history.[2]
The sole survivor was 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke, who while strapped to her seat fell 3,000 m (10,000 ft) into the Amazon rainforest.[3] She survived the fall and was then able to walk through the jungle for eleven days until being rescued by local fishermen.[4][5] The Electra was LANSA’s last aircraft; the company lost its operating permit eleven days later.[6]
Approximate flight path of OB-R-941
Crash[edit]
LANSA Flight 508 departed Lima‘s Jorge Chávez International Airport just before noon on Christmas Eve on its way to Iquitos, Peru, with a scheduled stop at Pucallpa. The aircraft was flying at about 6,400 metres (21,000 ft) above mean sea level when it encountered an area of thunderstorms and severe turbulence. Some evidence showed the crew decided to continue the flight despite the hazardous weather ahead, apparently because of pressure to meet the holiday schedule.[7][8] Peruvian investigators cited “intentional flight into hazardous weather conditions” as a cause of the crash.[7]
Sole survivor Juliane Koepcke later discovered that OB-R-941 was “assembled entirely from spare parts of other planes”.[9]
Death toll and sole survivor[edit]
The sole survivor was 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke. Despite a broken collarbone, a deep gash to her right arm, an eye injury, and concussion, she was able to trek through the dense Amazon jungle for 10 days and found shelter in a hut. Local fishermen found her and took her by canoe back to civilization.[10]
As many as 14 other passengers were also later found to have survived the initial crash, but died awaiting rescue.[8]
In popular culture[edit]
The movie Miracles Still Happen (1974) is based on the story.[11] Koepcke’s story was also told in the documentary film Wings of Hope (1998) by director Werner Herzog.[12] Koepcke’s memoir Als ich vom Himmel fiel was published by the German publisher Piper Malik on March 10, 2011.[13](The English edition When I Fell From the Sky, was published by Titletown Publishing in November 2011.)
The crash also features in the final season-one episode of the Discovery Channel documentary Aircrash Confidential. The episode was first aired in 2011, and features an interview with Koepcke.[14]
See also[edit]
- List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
- List of sole survivors of aviation accidents and incidents
- Aeroflot Flight 1492
- LANSA Flight 502
- Northwest Airlines Flight 255
- Pan Am Flight 214, another crash caused by lightning
References[edit]
- ^ Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
- ^ “Worst lightning strike disaster – death toll”. Guinness World Records.
- ^ Franz Lidz (June 22, 2021). “Life After the Fall”. The New York Times. p. D1.
- ^ “Plane Crash Accident Record”. planecrashinfo.com. Archived from the original on 2018-11-17. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
- ^ Pleitgen, Frederik (2 July 2009). “Survivor still haunted by 1971 air crash”. CNN. CNN.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
- ^ World Airlines Flight International, p. S31, 18 May 1972
- ^ a b “Super70’s Article”. Archived from the original on 2017-05-08. Retrieved 2006-10-09.
- ^ The Week 31 March 2012 p. 48 (an edited extract from Koepcke’s book When I Fell from the Sky).
- ^ Koepcke, Juliane (2011). When I Fell From the Sky (1st English ed.). Green Bay, WI: TitleTown Publishing. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-9837547-0-1.
- ^ “Miracles Still Happen (IMDb Record)”. IMDb. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
- ^ “Wings of Hope (IMDb Record)”. IMDb. Retrieved 2006-10-09.
- ^ “Als ich vom Himmel fiel”.
- ^ Barrett, Mathew; Griffiths, Alan; McNab, David; et al. (2011). Prince, Stephen; Gilbert, Roy (eds.). Aircrash Confidential (TV Documentary) (Extreme Weather ed.). Discovery Channel: MMXI World Media Rights Limited; WMR Productions; IMG Entertainment.
