The link on this is worth reading- not just for this amazing story, which also mentions the RAF's Nicholas Alkemede who jumped from a blazing Lancaster without a 'chute and lived, but also for the Lockerbie reference.
It was more than rumour that an upper deck stewardess on the Pan Am 103 was alive and in and out of consciousness for 11 minutes before dying in a local person's arms in that sad field behind the church at Tundergarth. There were also unbroken wine bottles from the flight in the fields.
The human body is capable of amazing survival and airframes can provide impact absorbtion. The Galaxy crew at Dover base all lived becasue they were upstairs and the lower section of the airframe provided a huge crush zone. Its a bit like having a car with a long bonnet-plenty of crush room to get the energy loadings down when they reach the occupants.