Career
Maria Koepcke (also spelled Köpcke), was a German and Peruvian ornithologist. Together they collaborated on much of their scientific work and publications, and had a daughter named Juliane. She was a successful Neotropical ornithologist at a time when South American ornithology was male-dominated.
The plane encountered a severe thunderstorm, was hit by lightning, and disintegrated above the Amazon Rainforest.
Seated next to each other, the Koepkes were separated in mid-air (with Juliane remaining belted to their row of three seats), and both survived the fall. Coming to rest in different areas of the jungle floor, Maria was badly injured and died several days later.
Juliane, despite sustaining a broken collar bone and an eye injury, was able enough to travel through the dense jungle for eleven days, before reaching a makeshift logging camp and being subsequently rescued on 3 January 1972. Koepcke is commemorated in the names of:
Koepcke"s screech owl, Megascops koepckeae
Koepcke"s hermit, Phaethornis koepckeae
Selva cacique, Cacicus koepckeae
Sira curassow, Pauxi koepckeae
Niethammer, G. (1974).
"Maria Koepcke geb. Mikulicz-Radecki".
Journal of Ornithology 115: 91. doi:10.1007/BF01647319. Rea, Amadeo M. & Kostritsky, B. León (1973). "Obituary: Maria Emilie Anna von Mikulicz-Radecki Koepcke" (Postdoctoral fellows).
Auk 90 (3): 735–736. doi:10.2307/4084200.
Vuilleumier, François (1995). "Five Great Neotropical Ornithologists: An Appreciation of Eugene Eisenmann, Maria Koepcke, Claës Olrog, Rodulfo Philippi, and Helmut Sick" (Postdoctoral fellows).
Ornitología Neotropical 6 (2): 97–111.