One of the most remarkable stories of survival is that of Aurelia Grigore, a Romanian airline stewardess for the state-run airline TAROM, who survived two separate air accidents during her career. Her first major incident occurred on September 5, 1986, when an Antonov An-24RV aircraft caught fire upon landing at Cluj-Napoca; despite the cockpit being engulfed in flames, she helped save nearly all the passengers before the aircraft was destroyed. The second accident she survived occurred years later, involving a crash into the ocean where the aircraft broke apart; she famously recounted having to choose between waiting in shark-infested waters or staying inside the burning, broken fuselage while awaiting rescue. Beyond the world of crew members, historical figures like the novelist Ernest Hemingway are also famous for surviving two plane crashes in as many days in 1954 while on safari in Africa. For Grigore, however, her survival became a bittersweet legend; toward the end of her career, she felt that some pilots regarded her as an omen of bad luck, though she remained a fierce advocate for flight safety until her retirement.