Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How I survived a plane crash

bbc.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 67 posts

Re: How I survived a plane crash

#31

Post by chenrich »

pvarangot wrote: post #18
rickhap wrote: post #13

Wings of Hope is a Herzog documentary that tells this story. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wings_of_Hope

I came here to mention exactly this. I can't believe how the article misses this fact, even when it includes pictures of her return to the crash site that were actually taken during the filming of Herzog's documentary. For all of HNers interested in this story, the documentary is highly recommendable if you like Herzog's deeply psychoanalytical take when he portrays real life characters and situations. Other curious…

Haven't seen the Herzog documentary, but I remember seeing this story dramatized in a (West) German movie:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071845

I was maybe 8 or 9 when it was shown on Japanese TV. Amazed it didn't scare me away from air travel for life.

Re: How I survived a plane crash

#32

Post by ender7 »

grandpoobah wrote: post #24
bootload wrote: post #20

"... The pain was intense as the maggots tried to get further into the wound. I pulled out about 30 maggots and was very proud of myself. I decided to spend the night there. ..." Should have eaten the maggots, lots of protein.

And maggots are actually good for an open wound, they keep it clean. Atleast that's what I heard a Veterinarian say.

Depends on the species of maggot. The good ones only eat dead flesh, effectively cleaning the wound. The bad ones eat everything.

Re: How I survived a plane crash

#33

Post by nandemo »

drewblaisdell wrote: post #5

I learned a lot about life in the rainforest, that it wasn't too dangerous. It's not the green hell that the world always thinks. If by Peruvian Rainforest she means Peruvian Amazon, I fathom how anyone wouldn't think of it as a green hell. Thousands of people have died simply from travelling through it . What an ordeal, though.

Well, her statement seems more reasonable in context:

> Before the crash, I had spent a year and a half with my parents on their research station only 30 miles away. I learned a lot about life in the rainforest, that it wasn't too dangerous.

Arguably, the biggest dangers of the Amazon forrest are malaria-carrying mosquitoes, poisonous snakes, spiders and scorpions, and lack of access to drinkable water and edible food. Since she had lived in a research station, she was probably vaccinated and knew how to mitigate the other risks (e.g. there is plenty of edible food, you just need to know how to identify it).

All in all, it seems a better deal than getting stranded in the Andes, the Sahara or the African savannahs.

Re: How I survived a plane crash

#34

Post by oinksoft »

andrewflnr wrote: post #12
bitsoda wrote: post #7

Great, another horror story to add to my "this is why I abhor air travel" bank. I know the statistics show that planes are very safe, but it's hard to reconcile the numbers with grisly accounts like these.

Grisly accounts involving cars aren't news. They happen too often.

Not comparable unless you're the pilot, really ...

Re: How I survived a plane crash

#35

Post by andrewflnr »

oinksoft wrote: post #34
andrewflnr wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Grisly accounts involving cars aren't news. They happen too often.

Not comparable unless you're the pilot, really ...

I think the statistic that was interesting to the GGP was absolute likelihood of death, not likelihood that you will contribute to your death by incompetence. In that case, it's irrelevant whether you're the pilot/driver.

Re: How I survived a plane crash

#37

Post by guynamedloren »

ekianjo wrote: post #14

I wonder if she was able to overcome, after all these years, the fear of flying after surviving a crash. Long lasting deep trauma, for sure.

I believe the article included a photo with a caption of her boarding a plane the following year. So yes, I think she overcame that fear.

Re: How I survived a plane crash

#38

Post by diN0bot »

spullara wrote: post #11

The saddest part about this whole story is that it seems if she had searched for her mother she might have saved her. It was probably worse finding out she was still alive after the crash.

"I had nightmares for a long time, for years, and of course the grief about my mother's death and that of the other people came back again and again. The thought Why was I the only survivor? haunts me. It always will." A quote from her in 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliane_Koepcke

Re: How I survived a plane crash

#40

Post by ars »

shimon_e wrote: post #25
waiwai933 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This particular crash was in 1971 in the middle of the Peruvian rainforest. I'm not sure when portable infrared cameras became available, but I doubt they were widely had around this time, and doesn't seem like it crashed near any major cities with air force bases nearby, so while the technology may have existed, I wouldn't be surprised if they were too expensive to just keep lying around waiting to be used.

I think you will find infrared was advance enough by 1971. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared#History_of_infrared_sc... If they could afford to fly search planes overhead I can't see cost being the issue that prevented them from doing the search more efficiently.

> I think you will find infrared was advance enough by 1971

It was not. The link you posted says that only film infrared was available then, and that would not be helpful for searching in a jungle.

And even in 1978 the best they could do was a resolution of 64x64 which isn't enough to identify a human from an animal.

Post reply on HN