Ulrike Patzelt was born on August 8, 1944 in Aussig an der Elbe, the Germanic region of Czechoslovakia. She was the only child of a housewife and barber.

At the end of WWII when Uli was 1-year-old, she and her family, along with most of the Germanic people living in Czechoslovakia, were expelled by the Czechoslovakian government into what would soon be East Germany for reasons of ethnic cleansing and retribution for crimes perpetrated by the Nazi regime.

Not wanting to live under a communist regime, Uli’s family made plans to escape to West Germany when Uli was 5-years-old. The plan was for Uli and her mother, Marianne, to furtively make their way toward the border, with her father following six weeks later.

Uli had vivid memories of that experience, saying, "I remember this very well. I remember survival. We would hide in haystacks by day, and walk by night, and I remember my mother warning me never to pick up anything, no matter how hungry or desperate I felt – whether it was food, a matchbox, a piece of soap or a toy; because the Russians were mining the borders, trying to kill anyone crossing."

She remembered hunger and her mother “taking away the potato peelings from the rabbits to eat.

"During our escape I had a cough, and would cough at night as we were walking. My mother was very concerned; afraid someone would hear us. I remember her throwing me down on my face, clapping her hand over my mouth to silence the cough.

"I think our escape from East Germany may have bred a survival instinct. I knew from the time I was a very small child that in order to survive, you must not only be very strong, but you must call upon all your resources. We did everything we had to do in order to survive, even if it meant lying. You do everything in your power; you use every tool you have to escape victimization. All the experts, the psychiatrists seem to think that my childhood gave me something that I maybe drew from on Flight 847."

Uli and her family arrived safely in West Germany where she was reared in the city of Nuremberg.

Once Uli finished school, she worked as an au pair in both Switzerland and England before immigrating to America in 1967 at the age of 22.

Uli's first job in America was working in Connecticut as a governess. Later that year she joined TWA and became a flight attendant where she met and later married [September 1972] TWA pilot, Russell G. Derickson, who was 26 years her senior.

According to fellow pilot, Randy Kramer, Russell Derickson was one of TWA's finest pilots. "He [Russ Derickson] and I came to work for the airline about the same time, in the summer of 1945. Although Russ spent most of his time flying out of the New York Domicile and I was mainly out of the west coast, his career was followed very closely and admired. Not only was he one of our finer pilots, but he also represented his fellow flyers both as a union leader and as a chief pilot. He was admired by all who knew him."

After they were married, TWA sent Russell and Uli to Saudi Arabia for two years [1974-1976] where Russell trained Arab pilots. Then, in 1978, Uli gave birth to their only child, Matthew.

Uli often flew with Russell on the New York to Frankfurt/Mainz route, and taught him to do flight announcements in German.

Uli had been working for TWA nearly 20 years when, on June 14, 1985, she took a nightmare ride aboard a Boeing 727. Uli had just returned from a week's vacation when Flight 847, en route from Athens to Rome, was hijacked by two Lebanese terrorists.

On that fateful morning, Kurt Carlson, one of the passengers aboard Flight 847 remembered Uli as a "striking woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties. About five-foot-nine, she stood ramrod straight, as if she were a soldier. Her eyes were clear blue and soft. Her blonde hair was set in waves and curled up at her collar. She spoke flawless English with a slight German accent."