Juliane Koepcke

Juliane Margaret Beate Koepcke (born 10 October 1954), also known by her married name Juliane Diller, is a German-Peruvian mammalogist who specialises in bats. The daughter of German zoologists Maria and Hans-Wilhelm Koepcke, she became famous at the age of 17 as the sole survivor of the 1971 LANSA Flight 508 plane crash; after falling while strapped to her seat and suffering numerous injuries, she survived 11 days alone in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest until local fishermen rescued her. Koepcke was born in Lima on 10 October 1954, the only child of German zoologists Maria (née von Mikulicz-Radecki; 1924–1971) and Hans-Wilhelm Koepcke (1914–2000). Her parents were working at Lima's Museum of Natural History when she was born. At the age of 14, she left Lima with her parents to establish the Panguana research station in the Amazon rainforest, where she learned survival skills. Educational authorities disapproved and she was required to return to the Deutsche Schule Lima Alexander von Humboldt to take her exams, graduating on 23 December 1971. On 24 December 1971, just one day after she graduated, Koepcke flew on LANSA Flight 508. Her mother Maria had wanted to return to Panguana with Koepcke on 19 or 20 December 1971, but Koepcke wanted to attend her graduation ceremony in Lima on 23 December. Maria agreed that Koepcke could stay longer and instead they scheduled a flight for Christmas Eve. All flights were booked except for one with LANSA. Koepcke's father, Hans-Wilhelm, urged his wife to avoid flying with the airline due to its poor reputation. Nonetheless, the flight was booked. The plane was struck by lightning mid-flight and began to disintegrate before plummeting to the ground. Koepcke found herself still strapped to her seat, falling into the Amazon rainforest. Koepcke survived the fall but suffered injuries such as a broken collarbone, a deep cut on her right arm, an eye injury, and a concussion. She then spent 11 days in the rainforest, most of which were spent making her way through water by following a creek to a river.