Episode 630: Fan Favorite: The Unbelievable Survival Tale of Juliane Koepcke

Summary

Podcast Summary: Morbid Episode 630 - "Fan Favorite: The Unbelievable Survival Tale of Juliane Koepcke"

Introduction

In Episode 630 of Morbid, titled "Fan Favorite: The Unbelievable Survival Tale of Juliane Koepcke," hosts Elena and Ash delve into one of the most extraordinary true survival stories ever recorded. Released on December 23, 2024, this episode recounts the harrowing experience of Juliane Koepcke, a 17-year-old girl who miraculously survived a plane crash in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest in 1971. Combining meticulous research with their signature lighthearted commentary, Elena and Ash provide a comprehensive and engaging narrative that highlights Juliane's resilience, the tragic fate of her mother, and the profound impact of her survival on both her life and the world of aviation safety.

Background: The Koepcke Family

Juliane Koepcke was born in October 1954 in Lima, Peru, to Maria and Hans Wilhelm. Her parents were renowned ornithologists who met during their doctoral studies in Kiel, Germany. Their passion for zoology and conservation led them to establish Panguana, a research and conservation center deep in the Peruvian jungle, in 1968. This remote location became Juliane's childhood playground, where she learned essential survival skills from her parents.

The Fateful Flight

On December 24, 1971, Maria and Juliane boarded LANSA Flight 508, destined for Pucallpa, Peru. LANSA, plagued by a history of safety issues—including multiple crashes due to pilot error and poor maintenance—operated this ill-fated flight with its last remaining aircraft. Despite reservations, Juliane’s mother insisted on flying through a severe thunderstorm to return home for Christmas.

The Crash and Immediate Aftermath

At approximately 30 minutes into the flight, while traversing a stormy patch, the plane was struck by lightning. According to Juliane, the lightning impacted the right wing, causing the aircraft to spiral uncontrollably. She describes hearing her mother calmly say, “Now it’s all over” ([34:30] Elena). Moments later, the plane went into a nosedive, and Juliane found herself plummeting 10,000 feet strapped to her seat, tumbling through the sky before crash-landing into the dense rainforest.

Surviving the Fall

Miraculously, Juliane survived the fall with severe injuries, including a concussion, a broken clavicle, and a swollen eye. Disoriented and alone, she navigated the jungle using the survival skills instilled by her parents. Despite her debilitating injuries and the extreme conditions—sweltering heat by day, freezing nights, and constant threats from wildlife—Juliane persevered. Her determination was evident when she stated, “With calm and methodical thinking, you can master almost any situation” ([46:38] Elena).

Isolation and Despair

For eleven grueling days, Juliane battled hunger, dehydration, and infections. Her only means of sustenance were consumed from airplane remnants and her limited supplies. She encountered numerous dangers, including venomous snakes, caimans, and a menacing Goliath bird-eating spider. The psychological toll was immense, as she grappled with intense loneliness and the hope of finding her mother.

Rescue and Aftermath

On December 26, 1971, Juliane encountered three forest workers who rescued her after she discovered a boat and a cleared footpath near her location. Her survival stunned the search teams, who had long believed all passengers perished. The immediate aftermath saw global recognition of her miraculous survival, juxtaposed with invasive media scrutiny and misinformation about her ordeal.

Reuniting with Science and Legacy

After recovery, Juliane pursued her academic ambitions, eventually becoming the director of Panguana. Her dedication to conservation and research mirrored her parents’ legacy. In the 1990s, filmmaker Werner Herzog, who narrowly avoided being a passenger on LANSA Flight 508, collaborated with Juliane on the documentary Wings of Hope. This film revisited the crash site, honoring the lives lost and celebrating Juliane's indomitable spirit.

Key Quotes and Insights

• Elena on Juliane’s Resilience [46:38]: “With calm and methodical thinking, you can master almost any situation.”
• Juliane’s Reflection [41:09]: “There has to be more survivors. There is no way that only I survived this crash.”
• Herzog’s Observation [38:27]: “She did not leave the airplane. The airplane left her.”

Conclusion

Juliane Koepcke's survival is a testament to human endurance and the profound impact of upbringing on resilience. Her story not only reshaped aviation safety protocols but also serves as an inspiring narrative of hope and determination. Elena and Ash skillfully navigate the complexities of Juliane’s journey, providing listeners with a deeply moving and educational experience. This episode reinforces the Morbid podcast’s commitment to uncovering the most compelling and uplifting true stories amidst the realm of true crime and the macabre.

Final Thoughts

Listeners are encouraged to explore Juliane Koepcke’s book, I Fell From the Sky, for an in-depth account of her survival and subsequent life. Her story exemplifies the extraordinary capabilities of the human spirit when faced with unimaginable adversity.

Notable Resources Mentioned:

• Wings of Hope by Werner Herzog
• I Fell From the Sky by Juliane Koepcke

Timestamp Highlights:

• Crash Impact [34:30]: Maria’s calm words during the collapse.
• Survival Strategy [46:38]: Emphasizing calm and methodical thinking.
• Rescue Encounter [85:09]: The moment Juliane meets the forest workers.
• Herzog’s Insight [38:27]: The poignant statement on Juliane surviving alone.

This comprehensive summary encapsulates the key elements of Juliane Koepcke’s survival story as presented in Morbid Episode 630, offering both factual recounting and emotional resonance for listeners seeking inspiration from true tales of endurance.

Transcript

[Elena]

Hey, weirdos. Before we dive into today's twisted tale, let me tell you about a place where the darkness never ends. Wondery. It's like stepping into a haunted mansion where the floorboards creak. With ad free episodes. And early access to new episodes lurks around every corner. So come join us if you dare. Morbid is available one week early and ad free only on Wondery. You can join Wondery in the Wondery app or in Apple podcasts or Spotify.

[Ash]

You're listening to a morbid network podcast, the holidays really just mean survival mode.

[Unknown]

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[Ash]

Door.

[Unknown]

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[Ash]

Hey, weirdos.

[Unknown]

It's crimis. It's the holidays.

[Elena]

It's whatever you celebrate, you festive fiends.

[Unknown]

I hope you're having an amazing holiday break. Hopefully.

You sound like the Countess today.

Do I? Yeah, I'm sick.

You sound like Ronnie and Ben's impersonation of the Countess.

I'm sick right now. But in the future where you are, I won't be. And I will be enjoying some time with my family the famdamily for the holidays. Yeah, And I'm excited about that and I hope you guys are too.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

So we decided to revisit a tale that is horrifying but has an amazing ending.

[Ash]

It's incredible, the ending.

[Unknown]

Julianne Kapka is literally a miracle.

[Elena]

She's astounding.

[Unknown]

Like, talk about a miracle at Christmas. Julianne.

[Ash]

A chromis miracle.

[Elena]

A chromis miracle.

[Ash]

Yeah, she's a. She's crazy.

[Unknown]

A harrowing tale and it's definitely one worth listening to. So we wanted to give you guys this for another little rewind to one of our favorite episodes, our favorite cases to cover.

Yeah, Just give you a little something for the holidays. You know, we needed a little bit of time off to spend with the family, but you can still enjoy an older episode.

Exactly. And it's a story of, like, bravery and hope and perseverance and being a badass.

[Ash]

Yeah, it's a perfect holiday tale.

[Unknown]

Wait, let's cap off the year with that and go into 2025, like, with the spirit of Julianne.

[Ash]

I can't wait for 2025.

[Unknown]

Let's take 2025. Like Julianne said. Fuck you, jungle. Yeah, I'm getting out of here. Yeah, that's what we're going to do in 2025, everybody. So please enjoy enjoying Kapka. She's fucking amazing and so are you. Happy holidays.

Merry holidays, love.

[Ash]

Boop. Beep.

[Elena]

Hey, weirdos. I'm Elena.

[Ash]

I'm Ash.

[Elena]

And this is morbid.

[Ash]

Yeah, it is.

[Elena]

Today we're doing a Survivor tale.

[Ash]

Ooh, I feel like we haven't done a Survivor tale in a minute.

[Elena]

We have not. And this one I have had on my list forever, but was scared to do it because it's a plane crash survivor.

[Ash]

Have you ever really talked that in depth about your fear of falling?

[Elena]

I've probably mentioned it. I don't know how far I've gone into it. So we're going to be covering the survival tale of Julianne Koepcke. This was back in 1971. We're going to go through what happened, her life and her journey after she survived. Julianne, I'm telling you guys, after you hear this, go read her book. Like, go to learn more about her life. Like, she is such an inspiring lady. So inspiring. Like, outrageously inspiring. She flies all the time now after this. And when you hear what happened, you're gonna be like, excuse me. So this is actually. I didn't know if this was going to help or hurt.

[Ash]

Do you think it helped?

[Elena]

I think it helped.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

Because I'm like, well, fuck me, if Julianne can get on flights. What the hell am I complaining about? Like, what the hell?

[Ash]

You're like, I've never gone down in a fiery crash.

[Elena]

Oh, Lord. Why would you say that out loud? Jesus Christ.

[Ash]

Well, it didn't mean that. I thought we were out of here. Never will.

[Elena]

Walking on all the wood. But, yeah, so, no, I'm sorry. So I have a debilitating fear of flying. Yes. And when I say debilitating, I mean Ash witnessed it for the first time last year.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And I literally walk into the plane in tears. Like, I. I've seen Elena cry.

[Ash]

Maybe like a hang of times in my life, I think, when sad things in our family have happened or Bubba, I would say maybe three to five times. And you walking onto a plane was one of them. And I've also never seen you look scared other than when you're getting on a plane.

[Elena]

It's honestly, I can say for sure, it's the only time I feel completely out of control of myself and my emotions.

[Ash]

Well, you kind of.

[Elena]

I mean, you're truly fearful. Like, I have never felt fear like I felt walking onto a plane.

[Ash]

I think a fear of flying is one of the easiest fears to kind of comprehend. Like, from an outsider's perspective.

[Elena]

Yeah. Because it.

[Ash]

It makes sense because you're just kind.

[Elena]

Of like, how do we fly up there?

[Ash]

I don't think.

[Elena]

How does it happen?

[Ash]

I don't like to think about it too much.

[Elena]

But honestly, thinking about it actually helps more because it will help you understand. That's. At least it helped me.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

I don't know if it'll help everybody. I'm not going to sit here and be like, it'll help everyone across the board. But I can tell you, the people I've talked to that also have dealt with fears of flying said they found comfort in, like, there's a lot of books. And honestly, I'm gonna link the books in the show notes too, just in case. Some of you have a fear of flying.

[Ash]

It's a common fear, you know, And.

[Elena]

I'm telling you, I don't know if you have a fear of flying, if listening to this episode is gonna help or hurt you. So I'm not gonna sit here and claim it did. It helped me researching it, but I don't know if it's gonna freak someone out that has a fear of flying, so just know that going in. But I will link the books because I got a few books that helped, like, understand the mechanics of flying.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

And understand the physics and understand airflow and understand wind shear and understand what turbulence actually is. And jello. It makes you understand the whole thing. So you're kind of up there and you're like, all right, so that's what that bump was. Okay, so that bump isn't a big deal because that's what's happening. Or like, you know, the, the. The earth is cooling at an irregular rate. And that's why I felt a little bump because it let, like, push some air up, like, and it's actually kind of interesting. Okay.

[Ash]

Yeah. I mean, well, and you love science too, so it's Very science.

[Elena]

It's like a nice way of just, like, making it tangible. I think, like, I need something that I can hold on to. I just. Statistics don't really help me. I need, like, tangible things to be like. I understand that this makes sense, but I will tell you that I. I'm literally like. Like, I. I get all the physical symptoms of anxiety on a flight. I burst into tears in the middle of a flight. As soon as a bump hits, I will look over at John, and he always says the look in my eyes is like nothing he's ever seen. Like, it's always just pure fear.

[Ash]

Oh, yeah. When we flew together, me and Drew were in the front and you were closer to the back. And watching you walk to your seat, I've never in my life seen you look as scared as in that moment.

[Elena]

It's like walking to an execution to me. It's like, what do I feel?

[Ash]

I would think it looked like, yeah.

[Elena]

Like walking down the Green Mile. I feel like that's how it feels to me. But after learning about all this, I was like, well, Julianne just gets on planes now.

[Ash]

That's crazy.

[Elena]

And she just gets on planes to do really good shit for the environment and for animals and to further research and shit and to better herself. And I'm like, well, if Julianne can do that after what I'm about to tell you, I can stop.

[Ash]

Are you having a Patrick Swayze, Donnie Darko moment with the little kid? And he's like, I'm not afraid.

[Elena]

I'm not afraid anymore. That's literally me right now. Let's hope it carries on until, like, going to Disney with the kids and stuff and getting on a plane. But, you know, this is an amazing tale. So first I'm going to talk about, you know, Julianne, who she is, how she grew up, because it is a huge part of how she survived. Okay, so we're going to talk about Julianne Koepcke. And like I said, I'm terrified of flying. So this was definitely immersive therapy for me, and I'm glad I did it finally. But I know that things have changed in airline safety now and that this wasn't even in, you know, the United States. So it was like a totally different set of protocols and all that. This was also in the 70s.

[Ash]

Anything went.

[Elena]

We're going to find out that this airline was not great.

[Ash]

This quote unquote airline.

[Elena]

Yeah, I honestly would say, quote, unquote airline. It's not around anymore. It ended right after this, actually. So don't worry about that. But this is a terrifying tale that does, it does turn into like a tale of perseverance, of strength, of like inspiration. It's wild. Julianne's a badass. She's a real testament to what the human body, the mind, and honestly, like the human spirit can withstand and endure. So what happened was December 24, 1971, 17 year old Juliane Koepcke and her mother Maria were set to take a flight to Pucalpa from Lima, Peru. Pacopa was about 450 miles away from where they were and the flight would have only been about an hour. They had done it before, but the airline, they were essentially forced to take this flight on had a long history of tragic and terrifying air disasters. And in fact the plane that they took this flight on was the only plane that the airline had left because they had lost so many planes. Are you fucking kidding me?

[Ash]

This was it.

[Elena]

Yeah. So backing up, we're going to talk about Julianne first. Julianne Koepcke was born in October of 1954 in Lima, Peru. Her parents were Maria, who she took this flight with, and her father was Hans Wilhelm. Originally he was from Germany. Hans and Maria had met each other while they were in a biology doctoral program in Kiel.

[Ash]

Oh, how fucking rad.

[Elena]

They were both brilliant, clearly like brilliant. This is a brilliant family. They had focused and excelled in studying ornithology and this is the study of birds essentially.

[Ash]

Oh, cool.

[Elena]

They also were heavily focused purely on zoology. They were just very interested in animals like flora, fauna of the Amazon. The research they did is like outrageous and it's still going on today. Once they graduated, they were looking to live in an area where they could like really dig their heels in and have a diverse and exciting field to put their degrees to good use in. They found that Peru was just that place because there was a lot of unexplored areas of very highly diverse creatures there. So they moved together and they married there as well. And this was a massive thing at the time because during this time it was wildly taboo and completely unheard of really, for a woman to even get a doctorate degree, especially in a scientific field of study. But then Maria took it to another level when she moved with Hans to a foreign country before they were even married.

[Ash]

Level up, level up, level up.

[Elena]

Taboo, taboo. Maria was a super strong, really determined and completely capable woman. And Julianne is exactly like her in every way, truly. In fact, this is likely what allowed Julianne to survive when the odds were catastrophically stacked against her. In fact, just to show you what kind of woman Maria was. She was once on a two month excursion into the Amazon in 1955 when she was involved in a severe accident. A truck hit a power line and it ended up hitting Maria. Oh man. She lost her sense of smell and taste from this and suffered serious injuries. But her only concern was how she was missing work and wanted to get back to it.

[Ash]

Oh my God.

[Elena]

Like, just like, I want to keep doing my research. Good for her. Julianne later said that when she was able to see her mother in her work environment, she was struck by how patient and tenacious at the same time she was. And she said nothing would deter her mother from a goal. This served her really well because Maria published several books and pamphlets on zoology and ornithology and was one of the most renowned ornithologists in Peru.

[Ash]

How incredible is that? And this is. That's incredible anyways. But the fact that women just like weren't really allowed to do this exactly.

[Elena]

Like she credited. She just plowed through any boundaries that were like figurative or physical in front of her was like, no, I'm doing this.

[Ash]

She was like, I don't give a fudge, I'm going to do it.

[Elena]

Yeah, she's a badass now. Her father Hans was just like Maria. Like they found their match in each other. Hans was someone who never backed down and never complained either. He just did what he wanted to do, did what he had to do, never complained.

[Ash]

Whenever I hear about somebody that doesn't complain, I'm like, I complain so much and then I'm like, I should stop doing that.

[Elena]

Like Hans.

[Ash]

Yeah, I know.

[Elena]

But he had a lot of adventure and a lot of hard work under his belt. And Julianne was always in awe of him as well as her mother. She said she was just always impressed by her parents.

[Ash]

Those are like the two most incredible role models you could have.

[Elena]

And it's like that's all you want as a parent is for your kid to be like, wow, I'm in awe of my parents totally. You know. And he actually wrote a book about zoology and am am. Aminals. Aminals.

[Ash]

Because I was hanging out with the kids too much.

[Elena]

I did. And I was about to say Amazon and animals at the same time. So I just reversed them. Animals in the Amazon rainforest called the basis for a universally valid biological theory that. Do you know it? It's a massive tome of knowledge at over 1600 pages and covers everything you could ever want to know about animal life in the rainforest.

[Ash]

That's wild.

[Elena]

Like wild wildly. He had survived his own perils in his lifetime as well. He had been offered a job in South America. And this being the 14, the 1940s, when this happened, he had to make his own way there. So he hitchhiked. Hitchhiked and hiked on his own through the Alps to get there.

[Ash]

The fuck.

[Elena]

Then when he was later in Italy for his studies, he was kidnapped and held in a prison camp in Naples and he escaped.

[Ash]

In my ass this morning.

[Unknown]

It's like, I don't want to get out of bed.

[Ash]

Yeah. I was like tired.

[Elena]

Like they didn't do my coffee right at Starbucks.

[Ash]

Fucking. My whole day is ruined.

[Elena]

This, honestly, this was a good. It's a wake up case to begin the new year with.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Because it gave me this like, oh, shut the fuck up energy. Like, just do your job. So what she wrote in her book, which is I fell from the sky. Oh yeah. It's. I'll again, I'll link it in the show notes. When I fell from the sky. It's an amazing book.

[Ash]

I'm proud of you for even saying those words.

[Elena]

Yeah, it's an amazing book. I really imagine. My God, is it terrifying. She said, I often think of my father's long, arduous odyssey when I find myself in danger of becoming a little dispirited.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And she said, his story is an illustration for me that it pays not to let things get you down. Girl. I'm saying, isn't this a good, like, happy New Year for real. Let's listen to Julianne.

[Ash]

Julianne is writing my anthem.

[Elena]

She is. She's writing everything. So they had both built really impressive lives and careers around themselves. Through hard work and just discipline and perseverance and passion, they were thriving as a family. After their wedding in Lima, Peru, Maria found out that she was pregnant with her remarkable daughter, Julianne.

[Ash]

I love this story so far, but I'm getting sad because I know, I.

[Elena]

Know they did have a wonderful life together. I will say that.

[Ash]

Good.

[Elena]

After Julianne was born in 1951, Hans brother Jochim moved to Lima as well. And this was Hans brother. Unfortunately, Jochim, he died shortly after moving due to spasms, I guess. But it was tragic. And still the cause of death is completely unknown. And after his death, Hans mother and his sister traveled to Peru to be with the little family and to kind of just like welcome Julianne into the world.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And kind of like a moment. Yeah.

[Ash]

Do you think spasms was like seizures?

[Elena]

I think it probably was.

[Ash]

Just didn't realize it.

[Elena]

Yeah. I Imagine that. It was probably like, you know, epilepsy.

[Ash]

Epilepsy.

[Elena]

Right now. Julianne's childhood seemed like it was pretty wonderful.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

It sounds like she remembers being surrounded by animals and family, which sounds pretty great for a kid.

[Ash]

Oh my God. It's like the fucking wild thornberry. It really is.

[Elena]

There you go. She also learned compassion and hard work very early on from her very impressive and very hard working parents. She would help her mother a lot. Nursing sick birds and taking care of young chicks that lived in their home. Because Maria would take in, in any sick bird and she would nurse them back to health always.

[Ash]

Can you imagine how rewarding that would be?

[Elena]

And seeing your mother like that is teaching true empathy and compassion.

[Ash]

Compassion. Yeah.

[Elena]

For something that you. That like most people don't show compassion for.

[Ash]

It's so true.

[Elena]

And something that can't give anything back to you. It's just something that you are purely giving to.

[Ash]

Exactly.

[Elena]

And not getting anything back. But you just a sense of I helped that.

[Ash]

That's the main thing is like it can't do anything for. I mean, you know, it can be beautiful.

[Elena]

Exactly.

[Ash]

But it's like ancient return.

[Elena]

It's not gonna sit there and like, you know, pay the bill at the end. You know, I'm not gonna say that. But in fact, through all of the hundreds and hundreds of birds that Maria and her daughter brought into their home, sick or injured, not one of them died under Maria's care. Wow. All of them were saved. The importance of compassion and kindness were certainly a big deal in their home. But they also needed to make sure that Julianne knew the perils of living in the Amazon rainforest. They taught her a deep appreciation for the wonders but also the vast dangers that lurked within it.

[Ash]

Totally.

[Elena]

She was quickly shown how to survive and navigate the world around her without modern technology. They wanted her to always be prepared to make something out of absolutely nothing. And it's so fortunate that they did that.

[Ash]

I was gonna say it sounds like it would have been a major key.

[Elena]

Oh, the most. So they took her as young as five years old onto hikes with them through the Amazon where they would camp out in very simple tents or sleep sleeping open in sleeping bags.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

And taught her how to survive there and what to avoid, what would help her, what kind of things she could eat, what she shouldn't even touch. How animals act around humans when they're going to attack, how animals act when they are just curious, you know, all of that. But because of her parents hard work and willingness to make themselves Uncomfortable for their careers and betterment of their family's lives. They were doing pretty well financially. They had a maid, Alida, who Juliane became very close to. In fact, she is still close to her today. I love that they still have a relationship. She had very fond memories of this time in her life. And she said the people that she was surrounded by, like the best kind of person.

[Ash]

It sounds like it.

[Elena]

When she was of age, Julianne attended the Alexander von Humboldt School. It's a German Peruvian private school in Lima. This school was pretty prestigious and was mainly catered towards international students from, like, pretty wealthy families. She had friends and again holds very good memories of this time in her life. She said every. She was a very normal kid, very happy, very healthy.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

It had always been Hans and Maria's dream to take their research and conservation passions and skills to another level. And they wanted to open a conservation and research center in the Peruvian jungle.

[Ash]

How fucking awesome.

[Elena]

And they did.

[Ash]

I knew it. Of course they did. You didn't even have to say that.

[Elena]

They did. They were finally able to achieve this in 1968 when they opened their facility called Panguana in 1968. There they planned to live deep in the Peruvian jungle, they thought, for about five years, studying the native flora and fauna. The thing was, Panguano was far away, like, really far into the jungle. It took days and days and days to travel through rivers, trails, jungles. It was super dangerous. It was long. It was arduous. During their trek, they would sleep wrapped in wool blankets on riverbanks, thank God, and had to truly use all of their skills to survive together. But Julianne later said that at the time of this journey, she was 14 years old.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

And she said at the time she wasn't psyched at the idea of living in the jungle for years. She's like, I loved the whole thing, but, like, I didn't want to actually live in the jungle for years. She said, quote, I was less than thrilled by the idea of living in the jungle. I imagined sitting all day in the gloom under tall trees whose dense canopy of leaves wouldn't let a single ray of sunlight in. But luckily, because of her closeness with her parents and her adventurous and very adaptive spirit, she was able to really find that she loved living in the jungle with her parents.

[Ash]

She leaned in.

[Elena]

It wasn't easy, though. They had a house that was on stilts and had no, like. It had, like, half walls and just like a canopy over it.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

It had to be really high, like very high to stay away from predators and flooding. And she would have to stay away from poisonous creatures like spiders and snakes and all that, while doing just about everything. Yeah, anything.

[Ash]

Like sleeping.

[Elena]

Yeah. And all manner of animals were all up in her business at any given time. Like bats, like, in the house, like, you know, fruit bats. And there would be all kinds of, like, things just crawling in there and they'd have to make sure that they were out and not poisonous. There was no electricity, no running water because they didn't want any modern devices making noise to scare animals away. Like, they didn't want a generator because that would keep all animals away. Right. So they just. They were researching. So her whole life had led up to this. She had been taught to survive, thrive, and to live with animals in the wild her whole life. And now she was legitimately putting those skills to the test and she was gaining a lot of new ones every day that she lived there. She became even closer to her parents during this time, and they really soaked in what they had to teach her while she was there. Now, after a year and a half in 1970, unfortunately, this way of life had to come to an end because the powers that be started to become concerned that Julianne, although she was doing homeschooling, was not receiving a proper education in the jungle. And they said if she didn't return to Lima to take on a regular school curriculum, they weren't going to let her graduate. They all understood this.

[Ash]

Yeah, I was going to say, you have to.

[Elena]

No one fought this. Everyone was like, we get it.

[Ash]

Yeah, well. And they are two people that are.

[Elena]

Like, college educated, highly educated, and they were like, you know what? She has great experience.

[Ash]

Plenty.

[Elena]

And we are glad we gave that to her.

[Ash]

And now she's gotta do this.

[Elena]

But now she can finish.

[Ash]

She can always come back.

[Elena]

Exactly. Now, luckily, because she was surrounded her whole life by her family and people who loved her, she was able to stay with family friends in Lima and continue her schooling at the same school while her parents stayed at Panguana. Okay.

[Unknown]

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[Ash]

It's been really cute.

[Unknown]

The kids have been absolutely loving playing these games with Amazon Luna and it's just so fun to see. Prime members can play select games free, including Fortnite and a rotating monthly selection of games from across the Luna library. Go to luna.Amazon.com to get gaming.

[Elena]

Now. Julian was always one to adapt in the jungle and in social situations. She was a survivor through and through. So she fell right back into the traditional school environment. Nothing happened.

[Ash]

Can you imagine? One day you're in the jungle and the next year in a desk.

[Elena]

Yeah, I've just been living in the jungle for a year and a half and here I am, I'm at a desk and nothing's changed.

[Ash]

We got new kids all the time, but none like that. Yeah, imagine that fucking new kid showing up. Not that she was new.

[Elena]

She was. But then Julianne, it's like, whatever, nothing's changed.

[Ash]

How cool.

[Elena]

She fell right back into the traditional school environment. Right back in with her group of friends. She referred to this as, quote, a wonderful, lighthearted time and one that helped her grow in a different way than her adventurous time in the jungle did.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

So the following year, In December of 1971, Julianne had blasted through her curriculum and had earned the credits and all the grades to graduate.

[Ash]

Hell yeah.

[Elena]

She would graduate on December 23, 1971. She was also looking forward to the Fiesta de Promocion, I believe it is, which is a party thrown by the school to celebrate graduation as well.

[Ash]

That's awesome.

[Elena]

Her mother Maria traveled to Lima that November to spend time with Julianne, and they had planned to fly back to Piculpa after graduation. They would spend the holidays together, and then Maria would travel back to Panguana. Maria had actually intended to leave a few days earlier, but Julianne had wanted her, understandably, to stay for graduation, so she stayed. Okay, she didn't leave earlier. So Maria initially tried to book them a flight on Fawcett Airlines, but unfortunately, with the holidays, there was no tickets. So the literal only option they had was Lansa Airlines, because they were the only other airline that actually flew to Pacopa. This airline was bad. It had a very bad history of crashes and mishaps. And Hans, her father, was horrified that they were going to be flying on it.

[Ash]

Well, you said they only had one plane left because all the others had been demolished.

[Elena]

Oh, yeah, this is the last plane. That's.

[Ash]

That's like that alone. I'd be like.

[Elena]

Hans actually insisted they cancel and book with another airline, even if it meant staying another day. He was like, I don't want you coming on that. But Maria wanted to get back home really bad, and she didn't want to wait. So LANSA had 20 years of terrible history behind it. In 1971, just to name a few, a 1948 LANSA flight from Columbia crashed five minutes after takeoff and killed everyone on board.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

Most of these crashes, by the way, if not all of them, are due to pilot error and lax maintenance on the plane.

[Ash]

So they just weren't.

[Elena]

They just didn't care.

[Ash]

They were hiring anybody and not taking care of their planes.

[Elena]

Less than two years after that, a Lansa flight crashed into the side of a volcano in Southern Colombia.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

And one year after that, another crash occurred where 27 passengers and crew were all killed. In 1966, a LANSA Flight 101 carrying 49 people went missing in the Andes, and it was found dead that due to pilot error, it had crashed into a mountainside.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

In 1970, a LANSA Flight 502 from Cusco to Lima carrying 99 passengers, 50 high school students as well, dropped from the sky when an engine stopped working because it caught on fucking fire.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

LAX engine maintenance and pilot error were this issue.

[Ash]

Double time.

[Elena]

So it was checkered. It was checkered.

[Unknown]

Like, how are you flying into the.

[Ash]

Side of a volcano in a mountain? You're not supposed to be that low.

[Elena]

No, and that's the problem. It's pilot error. These are all. Nothing is being maintained was being Maintained on this airline.

[Ash]

Were they pilots even?

[Elena]

That's what I'm saying. So this was definitely checkered. It was bad. It was tragic. Nightmare airline. In fact, people would say about Lansa, Lansa lands on its belly. Ah, but sometimes these things seem less dire when you really want to get home. And sometimes you don't take it all into consideration. It's like one of those things.

[Ash]

Or when you're 19 and you book a little bit of a wild flight to Texas and you're just like, oh, the $120 flight, I'll take it.

[Elena]

Yeah, you did that. So I'm still astounded by that.

[Ash]

I did there and back.

[Elena]

I'm astounded by that.

[Ash]

That was a cheap ass flight.

[Elena]

So Maria told. Actually said to Hans, not every plane's going to crash. And book the tickets for December 24th. So Christmas Eve, Julianne and her mother arrived to chaos at the airport. Because of the booked airlines. Everyone was vying for the remaining Lansis flight. And since Lansa had crashed so many planes, like I said, they only had the one. There was one plane left in this entire airline. But this one plane. Julianne said she looked out and she was like, I don't know. It looked brand new to me. It looked fine. Like, it didn't look like it was beat up. It's not like I looked over there and there's like a propeller hanging from it.

[Ash]

Like, it's just like, wasn't all crusty and dusty.

[Elena]

It looked like a plane. So she said she believed it looked completely fine, completely frightful. Like, to this day, she's like, it's not. If I had looked out there and it looked janky, I probably would have questioned a little bit. But she was like, you look at a plane that looks brand new, you don't know.

[Ash]

No.

[Elena]

What the hell are you supposed to.

[Ash]

Exactly.

[Elena]

Now, LANSA Flight 508, Model L188A was actually a plane that was designed specifically for flying in desert conditions.

[Ash]

So not the rainforest.

[Elena]

No, this would be a flight through the Andes. It was not made for this at all. And actually could not withstand heavy turbulence, which you would undoubtedly face over mountains in rainforest. As if this isn't bad enough, like. And this is wild. As if it wasn't bad enough. This plane was also made with spare parts of other airlines. Airplane airplanes. I don't know why I can't talk. Sorry. Spare parts. Spare parts from, like, whatever planes, girly.

[Ash]

This was a junkyard plane.

[Elena]

This was just put. It was a Frankenstein plane.

[Ash]

This was Herbie fully loaded, but worse.

[Elena]

This was.

[Ash]

Herbie not loaded.

[Elena]

This was. Yeah, this was bad.

[Ash]

This is just herbal.

[Elena]

But at the time, no one knew this. So it's like no one was told, hey, by the way, this plane is made from pieces of other planes. I think they would all question that a little bit.

[Ash]

Oh, my God. I, like, can't breathe.

[Elena]

Now, Maria and Julianne sat in the second to last row, 19. The flight, like I said, was supposed to be an hour. And there were 92 passengers on board. About halfway into the flight, 30 minutes or so, they brought lunch. And as they collected it a bit later, they entered directly into a stormy patch of clouds, a thunderstorm. Julian, Now, I know now after doing a lot of research that, like, pilots don't want to fly through storms. And they don't. They will divert the airplane around the storm, even if it means adding some extra time to your flight.

[Ash]

Of course, I would much rather that.

[Elena]

We would all much rather that. Julianne says she felt a jolt in some severe turbulence luggage and things began falling from the overhead bins. Panic started ensuing pretty immediately. She said, and this is going to get very this. I can feel my entire body, like, lighting up right now. So if you have a fear of flying, even if you don't, I am gonna talk about a pretty carry experience on a plane.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

If you would like to skip ahead a little bit, I understand if you don't wanna hear this part. It's gonna be pretty quick.

[Ash]

I don't have a flying. And I'm like, not even kidding you. I'm in my fighter flight.

[Elena]

Yeah. She's holding her hand, so this is like a little scary. I just want to tell everybody because this is like, like my whole body. But this immersive therapy, we're gonna be okay.

[Ash]

I'm proud of you for doing this.

[Elena]

Oh, all right. So she said, because I'm like, julian lived this, so I can talk about it.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

You know, I mean, like, like, if she can live through this and get on another plane, I can talk about it.

[Ash]

And her story deserves recognition because she's a badass. And I'm assuming Maria passes away in this, so her story deserves to be totally.

[Elena]

So she said her mother was clearly anxious as this began happening. And then she remembers a flash of white light as lightning struck the right wing of the plane.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

Now, I would like to say right now, lightning hits planes.

[Ash]

Yeah, that happens Miley Cyrus recently.

[Elena]

But there are things put in planes now and have been for a while that divert the energy from that lightning out of the plane. So it does not touch the electrical system. It's not gonna explode the electrical system. In fact, if it does anything to a plane, which it rarely does anything, you never have any evidence of a lightning strike. It can literally make a pole that's like a dime size in the plane, and it will do nothing.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

Just to put that out there, because I looked it up.

[Ash]

Yeah, I'm glad you did.

[Elena]

But it's something that is in the plane that literally, like, throws the energy out of the plane. It diverts it across the wings and out of the wings. And you can actually see the pieces on the wings that do this.

[Ash]

Oh, you can.

[Elena]

Which is interesting. That will throw that energy out off the wings. So it's very interesting. And that's why I'm gonna link these books.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

I think even if you don't have a fear of flying, it just might be very interesting to see how this all works.

[Ash]

I'm interested.

[Elena]

But back then, no, no.

[Ash]

In the land of spare part plane.

[Elena]

No. Yeah, that was not happening. So what happened was when the lightning struck the right wing of the plane, this lightning hit the plane. Like, it was something that had absolutely zero things in place to divert that energy. So that just was like lightning hitting an object. So she said, quote, with a jolt, the tip of the airplane falls steeply downward. I can see the whole aisle to the cockpit, which is below me. People are screaming in panic. Shrill cries for help. The roar. This is the part that I was like, ugh. The roar of the plummeting turbines, which I will hear again and again in my dreams, engulfs me. This part gets me every time. The last thing she heard, which she said was clear as glass over everything, was her mother saying, quietly and calmly, now it's all over.

[Ash]

Oh, my God. How?

[Elena]

And immediately afterwards, the plane went into a sharp nosedive. Right after she said that. And she said. She said the turbines, I couldn't hear them. I couldn't hear anyone else screaming. I just heard my mother say, now it's all over.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

I am literally. My entire body is lit up.

[Ash]

I am covered in chills. Oh, my God. And you're. Oh, to hear your mom say that.

[Elena]

Now it's all over.

[Ash]

And your badass mom, who you have seen face everything in this world and do everything. She.

[Elena]

Not even to cry it, not even to yell it. Just quietly and calmly say, now it's all over.

[Ash]

A lot of people say that. Like, the moment before you realize you're about to die, it's weirdly calm.

[Elena]

A lot of people say that it just. And then this is even scarier, when Julianne opened her eyes again because she said she could hear those turbines that roar. Because we've all heard that in, like, TV or movies, when you hear that, like a plane, something happen, or even when you're starting to land, you hear that like. Like it's that, but those are so much louder. And she said it kind of, like blacked her out.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And the nosedive, obviously. So when Julianne opened her eyes again, she was outside of the plane and. No, she was not on the ground. She was 10,000ft in the fucking air and still strapped to her seat, with the row of seats still attached to her seat, just free falling. Falling outside of the plane. Her row two miles up.

[Ash]

What?

[Elena]

Yep.

[Ash]

Her row of seats just free falling.

[Elena]

From the sky with her still strapped to her seat.

[Ash]

What?

[Elena]

It was Werner Herzog who later said about this. And we'll talk about Herzog after this, too. He said it pretty perfectly. He said, she did not leave the airplane. The airplane left her.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And as chilling as that statement is, it's also very correct. The plane had been essentially blown apart by the lightning. And her row of seats, with her still strapped to it, was spiraling to the earth. And Julianne was just going in and out of consciousness.

[Ash]

So was her mother, like, thrown from.

[Elena]

Yeah, her mother was not in the.

[Ash]

Seat next to her. Oh, my God.

[Elena]

And if you think about those little, like, pea pod things that. Like our little helicopters, you make the little helicopters out of. They're like that little boomerang shape.

[Ash]

Yep.

[Elena]

How if you do that, like you flip it and it kind of spirals down to the ground. If you can think of that.

[Ash]

That's what her seat was doing.

[Elena]

That's essentially what her seat was doing.

[Ash]

My God.

[Elena]

Now, interesting. Like a quick little interesting note about Werner Herzog, because I just mentioned him. He was supposed to be on Lance Flight 508.

[Ash]

Oh, shit.

[Elena]

That day in 1971, he and his entire film crew had been scouting locations for his film the Wrath of God. And they were intended to be on that flight to head out to a. Scout a location. But because of all the chaos at the airport and this being the only flight, he was not able to get a seat. And he made arrangements for another flight.

[Ash]

Imagine all the people that weren't able to get a seat finding out about this plane crash.

[Elena]

And later he took this brush with fate and he went back to this and he did something with Julianne. So we'll get to that after. But she survived. Remember, she survived falling more than 10,000ft to the ground outside of the plane, strapped to a row of seats. How now, Julianne, being brilliant, attributes her survival partially to this row of seats she was still trapped to. Like I said, it began spiraling as she fell, and this caused wind resistance, and it caused it to slow as she was falling. Right then she also crashed into the canopy of the jungle below. There were trees, leaves, vines, other vegetation that she had already slowed thanks to that spiraling, which was also bringing her in and out of consciousness, thank God. So she was also not tensed up because she was not even there. Right. So it's spiraling, creating the wind resistance. She's limp, and then she hits the canopy, which slows her down. She hit the ground below, and immediately the world went black. After an unknown period of time, Juliane began to have strange, connected dreams. She said. She said first she was running through a tight, dark space and she was trying not to touch any of the walls. And she said it was loud with a roaring humming sound like an engine, like a turbine surrounding her. And before she knew it, she was shot into another dream where she was obsessively wanting to wash herself because she was sticky and covered in mud.

[Ash]

Huh?

[Elena]

She said in this dream, she kept thinking one thing. All you have to do is get up.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

And then she woke up. She was no longer attached to the row of seats she had become come unbuckled at some point, but she was now huddled beneath them instead. And it had rained. She was soaking wet and covered in mud, dirt, and blood.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

She was hurt, but her injuries will shock you when you consider that she fell 10,000ft from a plane that essentially blew up. She had a severe concussion that had caused her a cut over her left eye, and it caused it to swell shut like, huge. She had a broken clavicle, which. That's a.

[Ash]

That hurts.

[Elena]

I'm not saying any of these injuries are good or evil. No. But when you.

[Ash]

Like you would expect her to be.

[Elena]

Falling 10,000ft, I thought she'd be in pieces, to be quite honest. Yeah. All of her bones broken now. A very deep laceration on her arm and a pretty big open gash on her leg. Leg.

[Ash]

Oh.

[Elena]

Later she found out she had ruptured a ligament in her knee, but she didn't even know about it. And she said, weirdly, she didn't feel pain at the time.

[Ash]

That's wild. Her body must have just.

[Elena]

She was in shock, coursing with adrenaline. Julianne said her first thoughts that were clear were ones of helplessness and quote, a boundless feeling of abandonment.

[Ash]

I mean, yeah, you're all alone.

[Elena]

She saw no one around her either. She didn't see bodies. She saw nothing. She was like, I'm alone. I'm completely alone, like you said, including her mother. And she also had lost her glasses, which she needed to see.

[Ash]

Oh, no.

[Elena]

She managed to crawl from beneath the row of seats and stand up. Everyone take that in for a minute. She fell 10,000ft strapped to a row of seats outside a fucking plane that blew up. And then she just stood up.

[Ash]

Like, what? Stood up and she had blown apart a ligament in her knee and stood up.

[Elena]

Now, unfortunately, she immediately blacked out upon standing, but. Jesus. So Flight 508 was scheduled to land at 4:30pm that day. And when it didn't show up, with no communication, everyone started to panic because this is Lansa Airlines. Family and loved ones were trying to get information from Lansa officials, but they were giving out contradictory and half statements. They had no idea what had happened. They had. They were just out, like completely in the dark. A search operation was started and is still the largest in the history of Peru. Wow. But it was still pretty small because it was the holidays and most of the officials were gone for the holidays. Also, there was no communication from the plane and the thick canopy of the jungle hid the crash site.

[Ash]

Oh.

[Elena]

So helicopters were sent over the site several times and rescue planes, but they couldn't see the crash through the trees.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

Julianne, however, could hear and see them, but was helpless to tell them she was down there. No. Throughout her entire journey, rescue planes flew above her and she would just look up and be like. And she'd try to yell for them, try to show them, but they never saw her because she was not rescued by a rescue plane.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

So day two. So she was out for the entire day. She blacked out, gone. Didn't wake up until the next day, which was Christmas morning.

[Ash]

Yeah, exactly.

[Elena]

And she was unable to stand without passing out. But she fought and fought, tried to do it slowly and slowly, but she kept passing out, coming back.

[Ash]

That concussion must have been gnarly.

[Elena]

And think about how sick and awful you feel when you pass out, if you've ever passed out. She was just doing it over and over again, just trying to stand up.

[Ash]

That's so much on your body.

[Elena]

And she finally got herself onto her knees and she stayed conscious. And after a lot of time and a lot of struggle, she was finally able to stand and when she did this is when she realized that her clavicle was broken. She said, horrifyingly, the two ends had pushed on top of each other.

[Ash]

Oh.

[Elena]

But they had not broken the skin. And she couldn't feel the pain from it.

[Ash]

What?

[Elena]

So she could feel the two ends that had broken pushed on top of each other.

[Ash]

So, like, the middle part, like that, overlapping.

[Elena]

She could feel it, which I'm sure was an outrageous. Even if it wasn't pain that she could feel, it was outrageously uncomfortable. She dealt with this for 11 days.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

11 days.

[Ash]

And she has, like, multiple open wounds.

[Elena]

Oh, yeah. She was shocked that she was not feeling a lot of pain. And once she had stood and assessed her surroundings, she was again confronted with the reality that her mother, who had been sitting in the seat next to her, was nowhere to be found. Right. No one was. She wasn't seeing anyone. She was completely alone. Not even bodies. And she said it was the loneliness of this that was the worst part. Of course, she said it made it her mission to find her mother. She was like, even if my mom is dead, I need to find my mom now. This is when those instincts in those years of her parents teaching her survival and strength kicked right in.

[Ash]

It's almost like her whole life led up to this.

[Elena]

Led to this. Yeah. She was in the jungle. She knew the jungle. She knew how to survive this. And although she had never done it under these kind of circumstances, she was ready to be that bad bitch that she is. And in her book, Julianne says that she immediately told herself one thing. She said, quote, with calm and methodical thinking, you could master almost any situation in which you end up in. In nature. I think that's such a good motto to live by. Calm and methodical thinking is like my lifeline always.

[Ash]

That's so true.

[Elena]

And I think it really is. If you can calm yourself, which is no easy task, and you can get into that methodical thinking space, you really can get through most things.

[Ash]

That's exactly how you get out of an anxiety.

[Elena]

It's true, but it's easier said than done. But, like, you can do it if you really, really find the tools to do it. Now, Julianne said, first things first. Of course I want to find my mother, but I need to put my oxygen mask on first before anybody else's. So she knew the first thing she had to do was find a source of fresh water. A human can only last three days without water. She started licking the leaves she found because it had rained. So she was Licking water off of all the leaves and, like, drinking it off the leaves.

[Ash]

Smart.

[Elena]

And she hadn't found a bigger source of water, so this was just gonna have to hold her over. Now, not only could she not see any bodies or people at all around her, but she said there was barely any plane wreckage around her either.

[Ash]

Weird.

[Elena]

But luckily, she did find a bag of candy and a Christmas Stalin, which is like a fruitcake.

[Ash]

Oh, that's.

[Elena]

That somebody had had in there. Unfortunately, the Christmas fruitcake had sat in the mud and rain for two days, and it was soaked in, like, muddy and disgusting. Julianne left it. She took the bag of candy and left that. She says now she definitely should have taken it.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

But at the time she was like, that. That's gross.

[Ash]

Well, and she probably also was thinking, like, maybe like, some kind of cereal. Exactly.

[Elena]

But she says now she's like, I probably should have taken that free cake.

[Ash]

Just like you cut the top off.

[Elena]

Yeah. I mean, I think we can all forgive her this little mistake, I suppose, considering she fell out of a the sky. Yeah. I would say she spent hours around the craft site searching for supplies, anything that could help her with survival. She found no bodies, no survivors, and no real supplies she could use either.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

It was these hours that she first heard the rescue plane above her. She had nothing to signal with and told herself she had to make her way to people because she was like, they're not going to find me. I have to find them. So as she realizes this, she hears the sound of dripping and running water.

[Ash]

Okay. We love it.

[Elena]

And so she follows it. She found a river and she followed it downstream for hours and literally climbed over trees and huge boulders, bushwhacked her way along the river until night came. Remember what just happened to her?

[Ash]

She's incredibly concussed. She fell 10,000ft from the sky. Her clavicles are overlapping, she has multiple lacerations, and one of her eyes is swollen shut. And she also can't see without her glasses. Yeah, that. Just that.

[Elena]

Yeah. Like, I did a peloton ride last night, and I was exhausted. I was exhausted. I was nauseous because I was hot. And I was like, oh, my God.

[Ash]

Meanwhile, you're just like, in your attic.

[Elena]

Yeah. And I'm like. Like, what the fuck is wrong with you? Like, this has put so much in perspective for me. I'm like, fuck.

[Ash]

Literally.

[Elena]

God damn, my ass.

[Ash]

Got a facial last night. I was like, well, I can't work out tomorrow.

[Elena]

Can't do that. Damn. Yeah. Like, Julianne, thank you. Thank you for being who you are.

[Unknown]

Hey everyone, let's talk about protein for a second. There's this rumor that getting plant based protein is tough, but. But listen, there are some amazing options out there even if you're not vegan. Adding more plant based protein to your diet is a fantastic way to nourish your body and support the planet. My go to for tasty protein and superfood packed shake is Cachava. Every serving of Cachava offers 25 grams of 100% plant based protein. But that's not all this all in one shake has fiber, quality fats, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and so much more. I love that I can tick so many boxes with just one delicious shake. If you know me, you know that vanilla and chai are my favorite flavors and I like to combine them. But they also have chocolate, they've got matcha, and they've got coconut acai. I'm a big fan of the coconut acai as well. After drinking cachava first thing in the morning, because that's when I always drink it, I feel satiated for hours. I feel focused, calm and ready to take on my day. Something that I really love to do if I even want like a little bit more protein is just add a scoop of peanut butter to the vanilla and chai concoction that I make. And that, oh, is just scrum diddly umptious honey. Kachava is offering our listeners 10 off on their subscription for a limited time. Just go to kachava.commorbid spelled k a c h a v a and get 10 off your first order. That's k a c h a v a dot commorbid what a year it's been you guys. I know that I have a lot to celebrate and a lot to give myself credit for. Honestly, the past few years have been pretty tough, especially for me and Elena. And it feels like a good time to step back and, you know, look at your life in this moment and commemorate it with something beautiful, something sparkly even. In all seriousness, if you're thinking of buying jewelry, there really is no better place to do it than blue nile.com whether you're looking for a bit of of special sparkle for yourself or to give the best holiday gift to somebody you love, your mom, your wife, your partner, whoever, Blue Nile offers some of the highest quality standards in the industry at prices significantly below traditional retail. If you know me, I agree with Marilyn Monroe. Diamonds are my best friend. I love a good sparkly sister and Blue Nile actually helped me Find this gorgeous tennis bracelet and tennis bracelets are very in right now. So I went immediately to Blue Nile and they helped me out and God, it is so beautiful. Go to bluenile.com to shop Blue Nile, the original online jeweler since 1999. That's bluenile.com bluenile.com.

[Elena]

So night came. She was clearly exhausted and she found a place next to the stream where she just fell asleep. At this time news of the crash had reached Hans Koepca who had convinced who was at this time he thought his wife and his daughter had heeded his warning about flying Lansa.

[Ash]

Oh.

[Elena]

And weren't on the plane.

[Ash]

Oh.

[Elena]

So his hopes were crushed the following day when he caught a news report that had listed all the passengers. And Maria and Julianne Koepcke were on there. I can't imagine.

[Ash]

And knowing. Knowing that he didn't even want them on that flight.

[Elena]

Oh. And just.

[Ash]

And to have some sense of calm like no, they weren't on that flight.

[Elena]

They weren't on that flight. They weren't on that flight. I told not to get on it. And then like Julianne knowing that her father didn't want them on that flight, not knowing what happened to her mother, knowing that her mother just wanted to get home for Christmas. Like just wanted to get to him quicker. Him knowing that she just wanted it. Like it's a whole.

[Ash]

It's horrible.

[Elena]

So day three on the third day, December 26, she woke up and continued following the stream. It was winding and not straight, which made it more difficult and long to follow. And the obstacles were still there, but she took them all. How like the badass she is. She recalled seeing a goliath bird eater spider on her way. I looked it up so you don't have to. It's a giant tarantula that eats birds.

[Ash]

I don't have words.

[Elena]

And she said that alone would have killed her. Like if that thing come close to her, like that would have been it for. And honestly me just looking at it would have killed me. Would you say it was a giant. A Goliath bird eating spider.

[Ash]

Goliath spider should not be in the scene.

[Elena]

It would have been cardiac arrest for me. It's giving sinister babe. I don't know if you guys follow guys, you need to follow. I don't know the TikTok name now. Shit.

[Ash]

Oh, hang on, I'll pause.

[Elena]

There's a TikTok that you guys absolutely need to follow.

[Ash]

Yeah. Okay. You tell them the TikTok name and then I've got A hot. A hot goss to throw on you. So there's a TikTok account that's given Sinister by.

[Elena]

I don't even know how to describe it, but it makes me laugh and gives me joy. Just go follow every single time that I watch any video and it is sinister Pond, babe.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

I'm gonna link it in the show notes because I hope she gets a billion followers because I think she just reached like 100k followers and I'm like.

[Ash]

Let'S get her, get her to a million.

[Elena]

Let's bring. Bring her to the billions.

[Ash]

Amelie. Amelie. Amelie.

[Elena]

It's the way she tells. Tells stories and she has the best accent and she says Babe after everything. And she'll say it's giving sinister, Babe. I've been saying it in my real life. Can't confirm all the time. It's giving sinister. It's dark sided.

[Ash]

It's dark sided.

[Elena]

She is so funny. Please follow her.

[Ash]

Please follow her, Babe.

[Elena]

I want Babe's page to just blow the up to pop off. I want to make it pop off because she's so fucking funny. And this is truly the Goliath bird eating spider is sinister vibe, Babe.

[Ash]

So sinister, Babe. That it's inch long fangs. Babe. Act like hypodermic needles, Babe.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Each long fangs.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

It is giving dark sided.

[Elena]

And she had to see this sinister spider.

[Ash]

Oh my gosh.

[Elena]

She had to see this thing along the way and just avoid it. No, just hope to avoid it.

[Ash]

I feel like they're crawling all over me.

[Elena]

But I. But besides that sinister moment, Babe. She also had to clean climb over boulders, fallen trees. She had to dodge other animals, other insects. She faced it all with a concussion, a swollen eye and a broken clavicle. Clavicle.

[Ash]

I'm not well.

[Elena]

Throughout the entire journey, she heard the continuous sound of planes above her. Searching for missing Flight 508.

[Ash]

To be that close to rescue and to. To full well know, like, I'm so close, but it's not gonna happen. It's like I have no way to let them know right there.

[Elena]

And you just keep hearing it and you're like, yep. And then you're probably like, they're gonna give up.

[Ash]

It's awful.

[Elena]

When are they gonna give up?

[Ash]

Right? Exactly.

[Elena]

When am I gonna stop hearing that?

[Ash]

How hopeless.

[Elena]

And when I stop hearing that, that's the true like, no one's coming now. The Amazon had jaguars, cougars, and at least 17 different species of supremely venomous snakes. Yeah. Finally, after hours and hours and hours and hours, the stream opened up. Into a big river and into it. Julianne waited because she thought, okay, I'm gonna just float down this river. I'm gonna let the current take me. I'm gonna hope to make it.

[Ash]

Somewhere there's water snakes, aren't there?

[Elena]

Remember, the Amazon is a constant barrage of threats to humans. In the water, there were several different types of caimans.

[Ash]

What is that?

[Elena]

Which are like tiny looking little alligator things. They're very dangerous. I say tiny, but they get big on the sea. They're scary. There's anacondas.

[Ash]

My anaconda.

[Elena]

Don't. No. And stingrays. Piranhas. Bull sharks sometimes. Yeah.

[Ash]

But remember, bull sharks are among the most dangerous.

[Elena]

Oh, yeah. And there's some in this river.

[Ash]

Yeah. Piranhas just make me think of Wednesday.

[Elena]

Yeah, There you go. So. But remember, Julian is a bad. Always remember that. Never forget it. And she has also been prepared for this her whole life. Life she would lead. Yeah, right.

[Ash]

I'm sorry to interrupt, but you said tiny.

[Elena]

I know. I don't know because sometimes I'm thinking of. Baby ones are tiny and cute, but like big ones are scary.

[Ash]

They are thickums.

[Elena]

They're huge. And they're. They will eat you in one little. They're essentially. They're like alligators or crocodiles. Like, you know what I mean? Like that kind of.

[Ash]

It's an alligatoroid.

[Elena]

Alligatoroid. There you go. That's terrifying. But what she would do is she would lead with one foot and she said she found her sandal. Like one sandal.

[Ash]

Oh.

[Elena]

And so she would lead with the sandaled foot. Okay. And feel things out in the water.

[Ash]

Smart.

[Elena]

And then she used a large walking stick to touch in front of her before moving forward.

[Ash]

So she didn't step on anything.

[Elena]

Exactly. The entire time she was walking, she was just slowly eating the candies out of the bag just to keep her going.

[Ash]

Just to picture her. Like, I'm just picturing her with like a big old bag of Skittles.

[Elena]

Yeah. Just sitting there eating them. Just floating down the Amazon river, poking out for Piranha's after falling 10,000ft out of the sky. Now hours of walking through the water was when she finally saw a piece of the plane wreckage. It was in the middle of the river. She saw a large turbine that.

[Ash]

No, it's that fear of big things that are not supposed to be.

[Elena]

I'm doing. I'm doing the nah. The nah motion right now. Like, not for me. Like, cut it out.

[Ash]

Yeah. Uncle Joey, cut.

[Elena]

No, he cut it out. I don't want seeing a large turbine in the middle of a room.

[Ash]

That's not it.

[Elena]

It's. That's giving sinister vibes.

[Ash]

That's given dark side.

[Elena]

That is the most dark sided. Because I'm telling you, go follow that account. I'm telling you, it'll just give you joy when you need a little pick me up. You need to laugh at something silly. This is the account for you. I don't know why, but it is.

[Ash]

The things just speak to your soul.

[Elena]

If you're listening, the person who owns that account, you're fucking great.

[Ash]

You're you.

[Elena]

You are sinister, babe. You're giving me a lot of joy. So she said, Marie Kondo says what Julianne said was she just stared at this turbine. She said she stared at it and she was just amazed at what she was looking at. But mostly she said, which I'm like, this is just. This is Julianne. She was like. But then I got happy because it meant that I was likely going in the right direction to find more pieces of the plane and possibly more people. Yeah. She said she was convinced that she was not the only survivor. She kept saying to herself, she's like, there is no way that only I survived this podcast.

[Ash]

I could understand that.

[Elena]

There has to be more survivors.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And she said years later she would return to this memory of seeing this turbine in the middle of the river. And she said she would return to it over and over and over again. Think about it all the time. And she said it would just amaze her how like, she had this weird detachment from discovering proof that a plane had exploded around her.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Like she was like, I was looking at a piece of the plane that I had just been sitting on two days earlier. And I'm sitting there going, wow, that's interesting. That means there's people over there, I bet. And instead of just being like, what the fuck? Like crazy, and she's like, I just kept returning to it being like, I don't know what was going on there.

[Ash]

I feel. I just feel like her mom was with her too, you know, 100% guiding her and, like giving her strength.

[Elena]

I think so too. Now, this was when ground searches were knocking into high gear back in Lima and they had begun to journey through the jungle looking for the crash site.

[Ash]

Damn.

[Elena]

Now, unfortunately, this was not organized well and they were sending them in wrong directions because they were getting false leads and, like, shitty tips because of all the false leads being sent in. The government actually had to impose a blackout on news reports because people are everywhere, always and this was to stop the false from spreading. But also it kept the families in the dark. They didn't know what was going on.

[Ash]

How sad is that? That, like, when certain media gets involved, even, like, it reminds me of the Idaho killings.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

The amount of misinformation being spread now that she's been apprehended, it's crazy.

[Elena]

And it's so. It's so easy for it to spread too. Yeah. Now, day four brought a horrific memory and discovery for Julianne and one that I can't imagine stumbling upon. No, she said on this day she had walked for a few hours and then remembers distinctly hearing, quote, the flapping of large wings. Unmistakable. Louder and lasting longer than that of other birds. This was very concerning because she knew what this was. She said it was the king vulture. And she remembered a lot about this kind of bird. Specifically, she knew from her mother's lessons that its presence meant there was a large amount of carrion very close by. Sorry, what's that? Dead meat.

[Ash]

Oh.

[Elena]

Unfortunately, she was right. Now, she left the river and walked into the jungle until she came across a row of three seats from Flight 508.

[Ash]

Oh, no.

[Elena]

They were lodged three feet deep into the ground. Upside down. Oh, God. So they were upside down. So the heads portions of them were in the ground. This meant that they had hit the ground with unbelievable force. Incredible, unbelievable force. What is worse, all three passengers were still strapped into the three seats.

[Ash]

Oh, God.

[Elena]

All of them were lodged head first into the ground.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

Only their legs jutted out. And as Julianne described it, quote, their legs were just jutting grotesquely upwards.

[Ash]

Oh.

[Elena]

And it was two men and a woman.

[Ash]

That's awful.

[Elena]

Of course, this would destroy anyone. But Julianne fought against any initial instinct to run because she said her first instinct in any of ours would be to run the fuck away from this site.

[Ash]

Absolutely.

[Elena]

This would be the most horrific. I would just want to get as far away from this as possible.

[Ash]

And she knows that the fucking king vultures on its way.

[Elena]

So I'm out.

[Ash]

Which, might I note, has a wingspan of about. About six feet.

[Elena]

Yeah. That's why the sound of it is very distinct, because it's huge. FLAPPING.

[Ash]

This thing is massive.

[Elena]

And I'm sure the sound of it flapping is probably really scary. I wonder if we can find a sound of it. Yeah, because just to give you a full picture here, like, we'll pause and find a little clip, a sound clip. I think we will not find you one because I tried and. Yeah, you really can't get a clear one that sounds like anything other than.

[Ash]

Like, we're not meant to hear it.

[Elena]

We're not.

[Ash]

We believe in trying to find that, though. I'm not gonna live in this alone. I found a fucking video of an eagle that found a goat and carried that motherfucker into the ayer. Into the a.

[Elena]

Nature.

[Ash]

It's giving sinister.

[Elena]

It's getting sinister. Bu. It really is. But what is?

[Ash]

The fucking planet.

[Elena]

Yeah. So this is after Julianne discovered this horrific scene. She fought every instinct she had to run the fuck away from this. And instead she went closer because even though she knew logically that none of those passengers were her mother, because she.

[Ash]

Had to be sure.

[Elena]

She had to be sure.

[Ash]

That's love.

[Elena]

So she used a stick to move the woman's shoe and saw that her toenails had been painted. And her mother never painted her toenails.

[Ash]

Oh, that's just like, such a. I know.

[Elena]

It's such a. Like a.

[Ash]

Like. I know my mom.

[Elena]

Yeah. Meanwhile, the king vultures perched above her in the trees and were just waiting for her to leave, essentially.

[Ash]

Yeah. Because they're not very confrontational.

[Elena]

They're not. So they were just waiting for her to leave. They were like, can you please leave?

[Ash]

They also don't have eyelashes.

[Elena]

They don't. We found that out. That's interesting.

[Ash]

Fun.

[Elena]

And she searched for anything else that could help her, but nothing really could. Just pieces of scorched plain were in the area. So she went back into the river.

[Ash]

And it was just those three passengers she found.

[Elena]

That's all she found now. Night four. The candy was gone. No food in the immediate area. And that this crash had happened in the rainy season when fruit was not plentiful in the trees like it would have been in dry season. Right. She didn't have tools to open any of the fruit anyways, and she didn't have any way of getting up into the high trees to get the fruit. So she drinks from the salty river in, like, dirty river water just to keep herself somewhat hydrated and distract herself from the hunger. Right. So as she fell into hunger and exhaustion, she came across a barrier of driftwood and tangled reeds that would be impossible to climb in the river. This made her have to leave the river again, which was dangerous and difficult. And she had to get through the dense, unbeaten jungle for hours before finally being able to get around that and back to the river. When she does, this is the first time that she sees that the canopy above her head has opened. Like, there's an Opening of the trees. And now she sees the plane as it flies over. She can hear it. She can. And now she's seeing it and she's like, they might be able to see me. So she starts waving her arms and screaming, throwing things, like, trying to get the attention. It hovers and then just leaves. Oh. Yep. This would have been devastating.

[Ash]

I can't imagine.

[Elena]

This was the closest thing to being able to be seen to her that that could have happened. And it didn't happen.

[Ash]

And this is night four.

[Elena]

Yeah, this is night four. I believe it is. Let me. No, this is this. So this was night four. We're into days like five and six at this point. Like, we're kind of like all bleeding into each other, but this is devastating. And Julianne says it was this when she finally took stock of her situation and finally started to think about not only what had happened, but also how vast and massive the jungle around her really was. And she said this made her start losing hope. So she didn't let it consume her because she said if she had really fallen into thinking about what was actually around her and what wasn't around her, you'd lose yourself. She wouldn't be able to go forward. Now, to give you context for what was around her.

[Ash]

Jaguars.

[Elena]

The Amazon rainforest covers more than 2.5 million square miles of land.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

59%, or a little under 1.5 million square miles, is in Peru. And in 1.5 million square miles of rainforest land, they're really estimated to live just a little over a thousand people.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

Yeah. In 1.5 million square miles of land.

[Ash]

That's crazy.

[Elena]

Which meant the odds of her running into a person for help would. Was essentially slim to none.

[Ash]

Like, more than that. Very less than that.

[Elena]

I mean, but she didn't let this take her down. A lot of people would given up. They would have let the insurmountable depression of this reality just make them lay down. Absolutely. Hope to be found or just surrender. But it's Julianne we're talking about. So she kept going down the river. She knew if she let the current push her down the river, she was conserving her strength as well as keeping herself safer on land too. Because if she's in the river, the things on land can't get to her. And she felt like she could at least contend with the river. Shit.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Now, also, days in the Amazon were about 85 to 95 degrees.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

And humid too. And nights could get colder. And remember, she was wearing. I think the only thing she was wearing at this point was like a cotton short dress.

[Ash]

And she's wet now, too.

[Elena]

And she's wet. And during the day she was being beaten down by the sun and then soaked. And at night she was just freezing.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

She was also being assaulted by mosquitoes, every other insect. It was hell. And at night they would just buzz around her. In the day, they would buzz around her constantly.

[Ash]

Think about mosquitoes.

[Elena]

And it's like those kind of bugs buzzing all the time would drive you fucking insane. Like, I would lose it. So Julianne's concussion by, like, day seven. So we're a week into this. Julianne's concussion had actually kind of afforded her a big, like, a bit of reprieve in a way. In the beginning days of her survival, she was in kind of a brain fog of sorts, right? So she could really only think and focus on survival in front of her. But by the seventh day, she was really only thinking about her mother and the reality of her situation, finally. And sometimes the thoughts were typical. You know, she's a teenager. So she would sit there and she would think about, you know, what she wished she would be doing right now, what her friends were doing, who she missed. Like, you know, of course I wish I could eat my favorite junk food kind of thing. And then she would get, like, super existential as well. Like, thinking about, like, what's the meaning of all this? Like, why supposed to be here? Why did this happen? Like, why me? You know, like all that. And although she doesn't really understand why or how, she knew in that moment, and she knows now that her survival meant something. She just didn't know what.

[Ash]

Of course it did.

[Elena]

But she was like, there's no way this was an accident. There's no way this is coincidence. I'm meant to do this. I'm meant to be here. And I'm not meant to die alone in the fucking rainforest with no one knowing what I've done.

[Ash]

I just fell 10,000ft from the air and I've survived seven days. I'm not supposed to die. I'm getting that right now.

[Elena]

I'm getting out of this. The river is not taking me down. Nothing's taking me down. Me down. So she resolves that she's like, I'm gonna get to safety. I'm gonna lead a life of meaning and I'm gonna contribute to the world when I get out of here.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

Like, she sat there at 17 years old in the fucking rainforest in the middle of a river, a week after falling 10,000ft from the sky and said, I'm going to make a difference in.

[Ash]

The world to have that wherewithal at an outer bone. But then you add all of those circumstances.

[Elena]

Now, at this point, her resolve had not dissipated. She was still sure there had to be another survivor of this flight. There was no conceivable way in her mind that she was the sole survivor. So she was just always looking out for people. And by this time, a week after the crash, she noted that the cuts on her arms and legs were starting to look pretty bad. And now they were starting to hurt. The laceration on her calf had become very irritated and very swollen. Oh, no, she's in the dirty river water too. It's not helpful. And the laceration on her arm was feeling very painful and very hot, but was in a place that was difficult for her to see. It was, like, behind her arm. So unless she strained her neck to look at it, she really couldn't see a lot of it. But when she did finally see it, she saw that maggots had actually begun to burrow into the wound.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

Yep. Flies had laid eggs in the wound, probably while she was sleeping.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

She knew that this meant. She knew that it meant that if she allowed them to continue burrowing into the wound, they would take her arm off, really gonna get bad and possibly need to be amputated. So she tried to pull them out herself.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

Using a piece of bent plain metal that she molded into tweezers. Oh. But she couldn't get them and just had to give up and keep going down the river with maggots in her arms.

[Ash]

I don't even.

[Elena]

Yep, she just was going down the river with live maggots eating the wound on her arm that she got when she fell 10,000ft out of the sky.

[Ash]

I'm not well, bitch.

[Elena]

I am not well, bitch. This is coupled with another scary turn of events. Like we've stated many times before, Julianne was very experienced, so very knowledgeable about the jungle and survival. And she knew that most of the animals in this jungle would probably be terrified of her and pretty much keep their distance. They would run from her normally, but she now sees that they were making themselves known and seemingly watching her, following her, acting curious of her.

[Ash]

I'm just so fucking stressed.

[Elena]

What this told her was that they had probably rarely, possibly never seen a human before.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

Their lack of fear was evidence of that. This was a crushing blow to her spirit because she now knew that she was completely isolated from Anyone else? These animals had not seen a human before.

[Ash]

Oh my God.

[Elena]

She was the first one to roll through here.

[Ash]

Oh my God.

[Elena]

So days eight and nine, it was now that the sun started to unleash the full assault on her body.

[Ash]

Oh, and her, like, infected.

[Elena]

Oh, yeah. It was eight days in and she woke up in searing pain on her back and shoulders and realized that she had about a second degree sunburn on her back and shoulders that had actually broken open and was now bleeding.

[Ash]

What the fuck?

[Elena]

Yep. Unfortunately, she can't do literally anything about this and just has to keep going in this unbelievable pain while bleeding.

[Ash]

Not like she has any fucking copper tone on her.

[Elena]

Nope. This day is when she began to hallucinate as well. Her mind started to play a lot of cruel tricks on her. She keeps being sure that she's seeing houses in the distance, but it's just a sea of trees.

[Ash]

Why does her mind do that?

[Elena]

It's just. I don't know if it's. I think it's partially like a survival thing, a preservation thing. It's trying to get you in a game. Yeah. Trying to get you to keep going. She also has auditory hallucinations, thinking she hears chickens, which would mean that humans were nearby, but it's just jungle birds that she hears. This may have broken someone else's spirit, hearing and seeing things only to realize that they were not real. But Julianne said it made her strive even harder to survive because she was now determined to really see and really hear those things. Okay.

[Unknown]

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[Elena]

Now while she is hearing and seeing these false images and sounds, she accidentally gets her foot stuck in a sandbank.

[Ash]

No.

[Elena]

And it makes her trip and fall.

[Ash]

Oh my God.

[Elena]

Now she's been traveling through the jungle for over a week straight with no food and little water, no medicine or aid for her wounds. And she's likely fighting Various infections. When she hits the ground, all she wants to do is sleep. She was like, I hit that ground. And I was like, I can't get up. Like, this is it. And she can't fight the urge anymore. Her body is telling her, like, you go to sleep.

[Ash]

Go to sleep.

[Elena]

So she closes her eyes and just lets herself rest on the jungle floor for a few moments. But then she said she was woken up by a chirping sound. And it's not a bird chirping. She knows that sound. Go away. It's a baby caiman. When she opens her eyes, she sees a baby caiman. And then she sees its mother.

[Ash]

No.

[Elena]

And they are approaching her in a very aggressive and very threatening way.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

And she said if she jumped up like she wanted to, they would have attacked her and got her in an instant. They would have. She would have no choice, no chance. But she said what she knew she had to do do was just slide away from them. So she slid on the ground away from them slowly. When every cell in her body was screaming at her to jump up and run the fuck out of there, she was slowly sliding like a worm on the ground until she slid back in the river and let the current take her away and got away.

[Ash]

Eliza Thornberry.

[Elena]

Yep. But unfortunately, this also cemented her the knowledge she already knew that there were no humans anywhere near here, because she said there was a large amount of Caymans, and that made it sure that there was no humans around.

[Ash]

Fucking alligators, y'all.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Alligators.

[Elena]

Yeah. But the ninth day, she was beyond exhaustion. And her hunger was something that was no longer something she could ignore. And it just ate away, away at her. It's all she could think about. She tried for hours that day. She said to catch poison dart frogs, to try to eat something.

[Ash]

You can eat them.

[Elena]

Even though they're poisonous, you can eat them. I think there's a poison sac that she. I'm sure she knew where it was. And she said she tried for hours. Literally all her energy was spent trying to catch these frogs.

[Ash]

She couldn't.

[Elena]

Couldn't catch one. And ended up just falling asleep in the middle of it. So the 10th day was the same. She just let the current take her down the river. And unfortunately, the river is now becoming less open and expansive. And now there are dams of driftwood and rocks that are. She's having to climb over and avoid. She has zero energy. So you can imagine how difficult this was getting.

[Ash]

She has fucking maggots in her arm, y'all.

[Elena]

Yep. As the day went on, and eventually the sun was beginning to set. Juliane saw what she thought was like a gravel bank on the shore. So she was like, you know what? That's a great place to get some sleep. I'm gonna lay on the bank and just let my body rest. Chill. So she laid down. She just let her body begin to let go. But right before she was closing her eyes, she saw something. Oh, no, it was a boat. She saw a boat. And in her head she was like, this is a mirage. Like, close your eyes, look at it again. So she thought, she blinked. And when she blinked, it was still there. And she's like. And I looked around and it was still there, still tied to the bank. No one's in it. So she shook her head. Still there. She reached out and touched it.

[Ash]

Still there.

[Elena]

It was a boat. And she was touching it and she said, and it looked new and it looked like it was in working order. Meaning someone who ran this boat is nearby.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Like, at the very least.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

So she explores the area around the boat. She's got, like a newfound energy she didn't even know existed within her at this point.

[Ash]

She's got hope.

[Elena]

She finds a footpath that she said was not natural. It was cleared by hand.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

She follows it and finds a tambo.

[Ash]

Then you're like, who the fuck am I gonna find?

[Elena]

Exactly. So she finds a tambo, which is a small, like, shack that was made by hand where people will store supplies like gasoline for boats and such.

[Ash]

Yeah, yeah.

[Elena]

Now this was crucial because it confirmed there had been a human around. And also there was gasoline in there which could be used to help her maggot infested wound.

[Ash]

Debbie bought gasolina.

[Elena]

There you go. I don't even think she gritted. She gritted her teeth and poured the gasoline onto her wound, which would cause unbelievable, searing pain. But because she is brilliant and learned from experience and from her parents, she knew this would be some do something internal to heal, like to help get those maggots out.

[Ash]

That's so horrific.

[Elena]

First, it made the maggots try to dig deeper into the wound. But eventually it forced them out.

[Unknown]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

So she was able to pull some of them out. She pulled over 30 maggots out of the way.

[Ash]

I need you to stop saying the word maggots.

[Elena]

And she later found out that there was far more that had to be removed later.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

So she's trying to sort out her thoughts, make a plan. So far, she didn't see a human, but just evidence that One was around at one point in the recent past. So she did think really quickly about just using the boat to take her down the river, honestly. But then she was. Because she was just so tired. But literally, I mean, she just performed amateur surgery on her arm essentially. But she just laid down and she was like, I'm gonna lay down first and think this over. And then when she started thinking about it, she was like, well, taking the boat is a non starter because it would help me, but I could potentially be abandoning someone else in the Amazon rainforest. And she's like, I literally can't do that.

[Ash]

No.

[Elena]

She wrote later, I cannot possibly save my own life and jeopardize another's.

[Ash]

That's a human right there.

[Elena]

So she did borrow a tarp from the shack and laid down on the banks to sleep again. Okay, now, day 11th. When she woke up, there was still no one around her. Suddenly a depressing thought hit her like a ton of bricks. Sometimes hunters or woodcutters would use these tambos while they were out in the jungle, and then they would just abandon them for months, sometimes forever.

[Ash]

Even their boats.

[Elena]

So when she didn't know, she was like, I don't know. So she made the impossible decision to continue floating down the river now just hoping that maybe she would come across a village or evidence of more people. So she's about to go into the river and then it begins to rain. And once again, her exhaustion and her lack of nutrients and infection were making it impossible to move very much. And she didn't have a lot of strength. So she's like, you know what? It's raining. I'm gonna stay in the shack until the rain passes.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

I think a lot of this is her mom.

[Ash]

I do too.

[Elena]

The universe and her mom working together, I think. Sure. Cause in the afternoon, the rain finally stopped and she was still alone. So she made the decision to move. But unfortunately, her body still just wouldn't even stand. Like she had no strength.

[Ash]

I mean, she just had to pour gasoline into her arm.

[Elena]

Exactly. It's almost like something was working there to. To keep her there, to keep her there. So she decided to rest another full day. She was like, I'm gonna give my another full day to regain some of the strength and then I will start moving in. I might as well just stay in the shack while I can. So she's in a serious state of despair at this point. She hasn't eaten even a little something in over six days and has only drank dirty river water. She's been bitten on every inch of her body by a variety of insects as she tried to sleep. And they're buzzing in her ears. She's cold. She's soaking wet. Suddenly, her brains begins telling her that she was correct. More people survived the crash, but they stayed put and they were saved. That's what her brain is telling her now. You are correct. Yes, people survived, but they were all saved. And you're left here alone.

[Ash]

No, no, no.

[Elena]

This was. She said, this was just. She was like, I was the only one left. I was the only one that left the crash site, and now I'm stuck in the jungle forever because of my decision. No, that's what she like, her brain just started going against her. And in her book, she said she thought to herself, how strange is it that a person can disappear just like that and no one knows about it?

[Ash]

It is crazy.

[Elena]

So she just lays in the shack for most of the 11th day, just trying to catch something, like a frog to eat. She was seeing them. She just couldn't catch them. She never gets one. The hunger really starts to shut her body down even more. And as twilight seeps in and another day passes behind her in the jungle, she hears it. Voices in the distance. Immediately she sits up. But then, just as quickly, her head tells her, that's just another auditory hallucination. Don't listen to it. She doesn't want to get excited, but she keeps hearing them. And then she's hearing them getting closer and closer and closer. And she's still trying to convince herself that this is just another hallucination, when suddenly, three men just emerge from the jungle. Immediately they all, like, jumped back when they saw her in the shack.

[Ash]

What the fuck?

[Elena]

Because it was their shack. So they're just like, what the fuck? But they look at her and they knew about the plane crash, and they're like, holy shit. She was almost too stunned to speak, but she quickly regained her composure and said in Spanish, I am a girl who was in the Lansa crash. My name is Julianne.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

These three men were forest workers, and they immediately hustled Julianne to safety.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

They brought her back to their camp. They fed her. They gave her clean water, dry clothing. They helped attend to her wounds to the best ability they could.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

They even took out more maggots out of her arm themselves. Stop. They then praised her for staying at their shack. They were like, that was a brilliant decision. We're so glad you did that. And they said, if you had left that area, you would have never been Found because, like, the rainforest, as you go further out, gets more uninhabited. You would have been going deeper into it. And they said her body, by the way, like, the condition they found her in. They said, your body would have given out by tomorrow. You'd be gone. Like, there's no way you were gonna be living.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

And they said that if she had even tried to float down the river, that would have been out. She was literally on her last breaths, essentially, when they got her.

[Ash]

That was her strength. And her mom. With no fucking doubt in my mind.

[Elena]

Exactly. They weren't. And what's even crazier, and this is why I'm like, holy shit. Everything worked. They weren't even supposed to have returned to the shack that day. They were just. But they wanted to make sure that the boat was still tied up after the rainstorm, otherwise they weren't coming back to the shack.

[Ash]

Kismet.

[Elena]

And they said they never would have found her, that all of that was.

[Ash]

Meant to be 100,000 gajillion percent.

[Elena]

So she immediately asked them about other passengers, other survivors, and they tell her, the airplane hasn't even been found and you are the only survivor.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

And she asked about her mother, even though they had just told her no one survived. And they said, no, you're the sole survivor.

[Ash]

Can you imagine the weight of that.

[Elena]

Falling on you, hearing that, like, out loud?

[Ash]

It's just you.

[Elena]

She tells them the story, too, like, because they're like, you have to tell us. Like, what have you been through? Like, it's been almost two weeks. Like, what's going on? So she tells them the story she told they. And they kind of tell her too, like, about the massive search that's been going on. And she's like, I heard the planes. And they're like, holy. Like, they were on top of you. Like, that's wild. And they're telling her like, you know, they. Like, everyone thought everybody was gone. No one thought that somebody survived. Like, no one's gonna believe this. She told them about, like, going down the river, about the vulture. She told them everything, the alligators. And they tell her that the next morning after she sleeps a really sleep, they will take her to Turna Vista where they can get her proper help and medical care. They're angels. And Julianne couldn't sleep that night. Even though she was safe. She was like, I just couldn't believe I was gonna get out of here. Yeah.

[Ash]

She's probably so excited now.

[Elena]

It is very shortly after Julianne's discovery that it's like, headline news worldwide. A lot of lies were told because the press, they somehow tried to make her story, like, even more sensational, which.

[Ash]

Like, they did not have to.

[Elena]

Like, there was. They were saying that, like. Like she had, like, made a makeshift raft that she lived on for 11 days. And it's like, no, she didn't.

[Ash]

Yeah. And I think it's even more impressive.

[Elena]

That she didn't and that she woke up under three bodies or something like that. And she's like, no, I didn't. None of that was true. Why would you.

[Ash]

Why does your brain even go there?

[Elena]

And the Times actually quoted Julianne as saying. And this isn't not a real quote. They quoted her as saying, I felt a sensation of emptiness, but I don't remember anything else until I woke up on the ground with three bodies on top of me. She didn't say that.

[Ash]

How do you. What?

[Elena]

And then they said that she told them that she survived by eating the Christmas cake which she had been taking to her father.

[Ash]

And she's like, nope, that wasn't even mine.

[Elena]

That wasn't my Christmas cake, and I didn't eat it. So what's worse is in the days that followed the rescue, also, the press started to kind of turn on her a little bit.

[Ash]

What?

[Elena]

And they started saying, well, she ran away from injured passengers who could have been helped.

[Unknown]

No, honey, they.

[Elena]

She left them to fend for themselves.

[Ash]

Into the ground or just gone.

[Elena]

Yep.

[Ash]

Like, off.

[Elena]

Luckily, for the most part, the overall tone and the most of the tone was celebration that she was alive.

[Ash]

Isn't it wild that there were trolls in this situation?

[Elena]

Trolls in every troll, always. They will always find a way to be miserable.

[Ash]

Trolls be trolling.

[Elena]

But they spent. So these three men and Julianne spent 11 hours on a boat going to Turna Vista. God. Once they arrive in Turna Vista, she's taken to a hospital where she's finally able to get real treatment and medicine for the various infections she was suffering from. Unbelievably, she has to fly to Yerenkoka, I believe it's called, to get better medical treatment. And this is where she would actually stay and be stabilized. But she was actually. She was absolutely terrified.

[Ash]

This is less than two weeks after she. She fell from the sky.

[Elena]

Yeah. But she was also so out of it and had no strength. So she was like, I couldn't fight it. I just cut on the flight. I just needed.

[Ash]

And she needed better medical.

[Elena]

But like, holy wow. And she wouldn't have lived if they tried to take her a slower way. Like, she had to get on this flight to get there.

[Ash]

It's almost like a method.

[Elena]

Julianne spent months in that medical facility in Yaron Coca, but she was strong. And by March, she was back in Lima and back in school.

[Ash]

Oh, my God. Yeah.

[Elena]

Yes. She loved being back in her normal routine and around those. She loved her dad, but the press were fucking nightmares. And they hounded her day and night. Leave her alone day and night. So because of all the craziness, her father, Hans, actually had her sent to Germany to get away from it. She lived with her grandmother and her aunt there. And Julianne said that he had good intentions moving her there, but she felt very betrayed by it because she said she was in such a state. She'd just reunited and she had lost her mother in that way that she was, like, being sent away. Felt like I was abandoned.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And that's not his intention, but he was also going through the trauma that he had gone through. So it's like this was just all a lot of Confronting a lot of different trauma.

[Ash]

Well. And I'm sure in his mind, he probably felt like she needed to be with her grandmother as, like, a maternal figure, even in.

[Elena]

I think he just didn't know what to do. And with his own grief of losing his wife, which he and his wife were so close. Like, they were together in the jungle 24 7. You know, like, their bond must have been outrageous. Absolutely. So it's like, this is just unthinkable.

[Ash]

It's so layered.

[Elena]

And she said Panguana and my school were the only things left for me. And she said that's when she felt the sense of abandonment. Unfortunately, Hans was very understandably devastated by the loss of Maria. And Julianne said she, quote, suspected that for him, it was a problem that I survived and not my mother. And what I think she means by that is that only one of us came out of that. Yeah. Not that it was bad that it was her who came out of that. It was just like, I would rather have both of you, and I think I really want.

[Ash]

Both of you would be a reminder constantly.

[Elena]

And she looks like her mom.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Like, you know what I mean? Like, she has a lot of her mom's features. I'm sure that's, like, really tough.

[Ash]

That's on a different level of trauma.

[Elena]

And it's a different grief. Like, I don't know that grief. No, I can't help. I don't know that grief. I don't know the grief that Julianne was going through. And I don't know the grief that Hans was going through, so I'm not gonna judge either or I have no idea what that feels.

[Ash]

And oh, that makes me wanna cry right now.

[Elena]

And Julianne loves her parents and respects her parents. To this day, she does not have bad things to say about what happened here.

[Ash]

I don't think anybody could have handled that situation. I don't think there is a proper.

[Elena]

Way to handle that situation.

[Ash]

No.

[Elena]

I really don't know what this. I honestly don't know what the way to handle it would have been. But Hans left Panguana for Peru in 1974. He just kind of left and didn't say goodbye to anybody and didn't tell anyone. He just started living in Germany. But everyone said he was just never the same. It just destroyed a huge part of him. He died in 2000 at 87 years old.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

Julianne said their relationship definitely changed when she came home.

[Ash]

That's really sad.

[Elena]

It never really recovered. But she kind of like she could understand in some way. Okay. Later, Julianne actually learned she wasn't initially the sole survivor of that crash. When the crash site was later found, they discovered bodies and were able to bring them out of the jungle. And there was also evidence that at least a few of them, 17 to be exact, had survived the fall from the sky.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

But their injuries were so significant that they died very shortly after hitting the jungle floor. One of those people was Maria. She survived initially, but she was nowhere near nowhere Julianne at all. Like, nowhere near her to find, nowhere near where she would know where she was.

[Ash]

But did they were able to recover her body?

[Elena]

They were able to recover her body. She said, when she. Julianne said when she found this out, it did shatter her. Of course, knowing that her mother had survived at some point and that she wasn't near her.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Now, an investigation into the crash found that the crew was under a ton of pressure to keep the schedule on that flight because things had fallen behind during the holidays. So they pushed through the storm instead of diverting around it and adding more time to the flight.

[Ash]

Dude, time is made up. Lightning is not.

[Elena]

Yeah. Fatal error.

[Ash]

That's ridiculous.

[Elena]

Also, the plane was in terrible shape. Like I said, it was put together with scraps of other plane to begin with. And after this, Lansa shut down.

[Ash]

Good bye, Lansa.

[Elena]

Now, Julianne did not return to Peru for a decade. And honestly, I probably wouldn't ever return, but she was a PhD student.

[Ash]

Oh, my God, of course she was.

[Elena]

Yeah. And had an opportunity to study Amazonian bats in Panguana again. The place where she lived with her parents and formed such a strong bond with them and foundations for her eventual unbelievable survival. And she took the opportunity and spent 18 months living in Panguana, finishing her dissertation.

[Ash]

God.

[Elena]

After surviving in the jungle, she went back to the jungle.

[Ash]

She's the most badass woman I think I've ever heard of.

[Elena]

She also became the director of Panguana after her father died.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

And in the 1990s, she returned to the crash site with Director Werner Herzog. The actual crash site.

[Ash]

And he was the one who was supposed to go on that plane with his crew.

[Elena]

Exactly. And she said this is when she really realized how badly she wanted to return to the jungle and she wanted to preserve her parents legacy. She said this was when it hit her. And she said the way she looks at it, quote, the jungle caught me. It saved me. It was not its fault that I landed here.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

How do you look at it that way?

[Ash]

I don't know.

[Elena]

Like how do you have the fucking.

[Ash]

You're a beast.

[Elena]

Of a human spirit. Now, we talked earlier about how filmmaker Werner Herzog was supposed to be on LANSA Flight 508, but he actually made a documentary in 1999 called Wings of Hope. Wow. Where he returned to the jungle and to the crash site with Julianne. They walked to where she crashed and also visited where she was rescued. And the stops along the way of her unbelievable journey where she just tells the story and she talks about all the emotions she felt, the pain, the numbness, the times when she thought she couldn't go on anymore. She talked about the isolation and feeling of loneliness that truly goes unmatched. I can't imagine.

[Ash]

No. None of us will ever know what that's like. No.

[Elena]

As they go through this experience, she would stop and pick up pieces of the scattered rest. Like picking up pieces of the plane that are still there today.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

It's just scattered over a crazy amount of space. And they actually visited Pakopa, where there's a cemetery that many of the passengers from Flight 508 are buried. And there's a big memorial that the graves are all around. And there's this map in the memorial that traces with dotted lines from the crash site to Turna Vista, where Julianne was eventually healed.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

Under the memorial there are the words Alas de Esperanza or Wings of hope. All 71 passengers and all six of the crew of the plane's crew died in the crash. With only Julia and Serra surviving.

[Ash]

That is so remarkable.

[Elena]

Yeah. Today, Julianne Koepcke is married and actually goes by Julianne Diller, her married name. And she splits her time, she goes. She lives in Munich, and she also works as a librarian at the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology and Panguana.

[Ash]

My God, she does it all.

[Elena]

Still, she has spent decades in Panguana building it up, making the facility in the institute larger, more like, with more resources. And it has actually been designated as a conservation area. Now she flies all the fucking time. My God, all the time. Flies all the time. Is making the world a better place. Is treating animals. Is studying, is researching, Is bringing new information into the world. Is fucking G. The G is.

[Ash]

There was a point earlier where you said she was like, all right, first things first. And all I could think of is, first things first, first.

[Elena]

I'm the realist.

[Ash]

Drop this and let the whole world feel it.

[Elena]

That's Julianne.

[Ash]

She's still in the jungle business.

[Elena]

Julianne, my God, is one of the most inspirational people I have ever read about.

[Ash]

I want to play this episode for my children someday and be like, never fucking complain about anything.

[Elena]

Like, I know we all, like. Everyone's allowed to complain about shit. Like, shit goes down. We're not saying, like, oh, now you're never allowed to compete.

[Ash]

No, I'm jokes.

[Elena]

But it's like if you feel yourself slipping into a rut of, like, everything sucks and I'm mad and this is.

[Ash]

Annoying to me, and let Julianne guide your way.

[Elena]

Think about Julianne. Just think about Julianne. Just think about that journey. Just say, think about maggots in her arm.

[Ash]

I could be stuck in the rainforest right now, face to face with an alligator and its fucking baby.

[Elena]

I could be sitting next to my mother one second in a plane, and then I could be crashing 10,000ft out of the air in the second. And then I could spend almost two weeks battling the Amazon fucking rainforest.

[Ash]

You know what's fucked?

[Elena]

Just to survive, we're going to be.

[Ash]

On a plane in two weeks, and that's fucked.

[Elena]

Yeah. But you know what?

[Ash]

It's okay.

[Elena]

This plane is from 2000 and whatever.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

This plane can withstand a lightning strike. This plane has had regular maintenance. This plane has a very professional pilot.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And flying is different now.

[Ash]

I flew over tornadoes earlier last year, flying. So we good? We good. Actually, I was flying the day that Miley Cyrus's flight was hit with lightning.

[Elena]

That. That day. We all know that day.

[Ash]

I know that.

[Elena]

How do you know where you were that day?

[Ash]

How could you forget that day? I was on a flight and she was too. And it got hit by lightning, but she was fine.

[Unknown]

But she was.

[Elena]

I. Exactly. Because the planes can withstand lightning now.

[Ash]

That's my point.

[Elena]

And also, no plane has ever crashed due to turbulence.

[Ash]

There you go.

[Elena]

So you can take that with your hat.

[Ash]

And Jello.

[Elena]

And jello. Oh, yes. If you. I. I don't know if I've mentioned this before. I think maybe, maybe I have, but if, if I have hear it again. There's a TikTok where this girl said that she heard from a pilot that if you ever get nervous about turbulence and you can't understand what it is because it is a little. Very scary. I was gonna say a little. It's very scary. I like shit my pants every time there's a little bump. She put a little rolled up piece of paper and a little cup of Jello and she put it in the middle and she said, here's the plane and the Jello. Around it is the air that you're flying through. And then she taps the Jello and you see the jello just kind of wiggle. And she said, is that piece of paper gonna drop? And you say, no, TikTok, it's not. And she says that's because there's all this air pressure underneath and all this air pressure on top and on either side. And that little piece of paper isn't going anywhere. It's just jostling around because the air is jostling around.

[Unknown]

Boom.

[Elena]

And she said, anytime you get in turbulence, just think of that. Think about Jello. Yeah. And I'm telling you, it helps. The last time I was on the plane, I thought about Jello. That's what I thought about too, and it helped me. But again, I will link some of those books in the show notes in case you are a fearful flyer or if you're not and you're just interested in it.

[Ash]

Yeah, totally.

[Elena]

But I'm telling you, Julianne did it. Julianne still does it. She gets on a plane so I can get on a plane.

[Ash]

Julianne for ever.

[Elena]

Yeah, Julianne for life. She's a inspirational. Inspirational, Bish, to say the least. Yeah, I love her.

[Ash]

Wow. Well, with all of that being said.

[Elena]

I thought this was going to be a short episode, but.

[Ash]

You're insane. You always think it's going to be a short episode and then we have like four parts. Yeah, but we love you for it.

[Elena]

I try.

[Ash]

And we love you guys.

[Elena]

We love you and we hope that you keep listening and we hope you keep it weird.

[Ash]

Oh, weird.

[Elena]

I was like, why? You just say weird I don't know.

[Ash]

Cuz we did the the I don't.

[Elena]

Know I don't know we were like giving sinister babe just giving dark side.

[Unknown]

If you like morbid you can listen early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus and the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short [e-mail] survey.

[E]

Hello ladies and germs, boys and girls. The Grinch is back again to ruin your Christmas season with Tis the Grinch Holiday Podcast. After last year, he's learned a thing or two about hosting, and he's ready to rant against Christmas cheer and roast his celebrity guests like chestnuts on an open fire. You can listen with the whole family as guest stars like Jon Hamm, Brittney Broski, and Danny DeVito try to persuade the mean old Grinch that there's a lot to love about the insufferable holiday season. But that's not all. Somebody stole all the children of Whoville's letters to Santa, and everybody thinks the Grinch is responsible. It's a real Whoville whodunit. Can Cindy Lou and Max help clear the Grinch's name? Grab your hot cocoa and cozy slippers to find out. Follow Tis the Grinch Holiday Podcast on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Unlock weekly Christmas mystery bonus content and listen to every episode ad free by joining Wondery plus in the Wondery App, Spotify or Apple Podcasts.