Books : 35 Miles from Shore: The Ditching and Rescue of ALM Flight 980

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Author name: Emilio Corsetti III

Books : 35 Miles from Shore: The Ditching and Rescue of ALM Flight 980
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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 363.124650972922
EAN num: 9780977897100
ISBN number: 0977897109
Label: Odyssey Publishing
Manufacturer: Odyssey Publishing
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: April 28, 2008
Publishing house: Odyssey Publishing
Sale Popularity Level: 362582
Studio: Odyssey Publishing



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Product Description:

On May 2, 1970, a DC-9 jet with 57 passengers and a crew of six departed from New York’s JFK International Airport en route to the tropical island of St. Maarten, but four hours and 34 minutes later the flight ended in the shark-infested waters of the Caribbean. It was, and remains, the only open-water ditching of a commercial jet. The subsequent rescue of survivors took nearly three hours and involved the coast guard, navy, and marines. This gripping account of that fateful day recounts what was happening inside the cabin, the cockpit, and the helicopters as the crews struggled against the weather and dwindling daylight to rescue the survivors, who had only their life vests and a lone escape chute to keep them afloat.





Customer Reviews
User popularity level: out of 5 stars

Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - Fifty thousand tons of steal falling toward the ocean at 200 miles per hour
Reviewed by William Phenn for Reader Views (11/08)

Fifty thousand tons of steel falling toward the ocean at over 200 miles per hour!

This is the scenario that the author presents at the climax of the book. What begins with a slow and thorough history of ALM Airlines culminates with a bang, or should I say crash?

Mr. Corsetti presents the true story of the ditching and rescue of ALM flight 980 off the coast of South America. He begins with an in-depth study of the airline, how it started with just a few older aircraft and evolved into a more affluent international carrier. Mr. Corsetti goes on to give the reader an insight into the individual crew members. From a little background about them to the events that brought them aboard flight 980. He describes the plane and mentions some of the key features of the aircraft. Some of the features that were mentioned included such things as where the life rafts were kept and the handling characteristics of the DC 9. Mr. Corsetti also went into detail of how and what caused flight 980 to go down.

The book "35 Miles from Shore: The Ditching and Rescue of ALM Flight 980" is a very interesting and well-researched volume of fact. Mr. Corsetti left no stone unturned in his detailed book of this accident and the rescue that followed. His description of the aftermath of the crash, the anguish of the survivors after the ditching, brought the reader right into the midst of the action.

I would recommend this book to all ages that enjoy a good, fact-based novel. "35 Miles from Shore: The Ditching and Rescue of ALM Flight 980" by Emilio Corsetti, III, was well written, well researched and well presented. I gave it a very deserving A rating.




Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - A very good book!
35 Miles From Shore is a well told story about a very unique aviation accident. The ditching of a commercial airplane is very rare. ALM 980 ditched due to a whole host of circumstances culminating in disaster. The crew is professionally depicted, the passengers are well presented. As an aviation professional I recommend 35 Miles From Shore as a MUST READ for every aviastion enthusiast.


Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - A must read for those in aviation
Being a resident of Curacao myself, and thus very familiar with this incident, I was really glad when this book came out. Very few people know about the ditching of ALM 980, and I hope this book will change this fact.
Very detailed and written on a personal level. the book does not give you the feeling of being isolated from the events happening, and never spins the situation in a way that would make it hard to follow.

I most certainly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in aviation, or just would like to know about a very little known fact of history.


Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - A Fiction Reader Learns that Non-Fiction Can be Interesting Too
I'm not generally a non-fiction reader. I much prefer crime thrillers and Stephen King novels, and the occasional biography (which, let's face it, isn't always 100% non-fiction). However, when I started to read 35 Miles From Shore, I was immediately sucked in. The book tells the story of the only recorded open water ditching of a commercial jet. ALM Flight 980 landed in the waters of the Caribbean after running out of fuel. The author takes an interesting approach in not only describing the details of the doomed flight and its passengers, but also giving background on the chain of events that led up to the tragedy. Not only does it make for a more interesting story, but it gave the book a uniquely human element that I would imagine isn't often present in books about disasters.

The book opens by explaining that most accidents aren't a freak occurrence but rather the end of an unfortunate chain of events. In the case of ALM Flight 980, this is especially true. The author covers the choices made by the airlines, the crew, and the air traffic controllers on the ground that added to the inevitable end result. From the secondary fuel tank that was never added to the plane to the last second decision to head for their alternate landing destination due to bad weather, the author painstakingly researched every available detail about the flight and the events leading to the disaster.

In the process of revealing all the events that may or may not have contributed to the crash, we learn about all the people involved. We learn about the passengers, the crew, and even the rescuers. Reading about why each passenger was on the flight (last vacation before having a baby, returning home, business, etc.) really brought the story to life. Knowing that the author interviewed most of these people directly reminds the reader that this tragic story really happened.

One note about the endnotes in the Kindle version of the book - they work wonderfully. Typically when you read a book with annotations, they are either at the bottom of the page or at the end of the book. I typically dislike reading books where the notes are at the end because that means I have to stop reading and find the right annotation at the back of the book. However, in 35 Miles From Shore, all you have to do is use the scroll wheel to click on the line with the number and then choose the number from the menu. It takes you directly to the appropriate annotation, and simply hitting the back button brings you back to your place in the book. The only problem I found with this - and it's a small one - is that the asterisk-marked pieces often land in the middle of paragraphs. However, once you've realized this, it's easier to read around them.

I truly enjoyed the book. It was a fast read, unbelievably well-researched, and extremely interesting. Even if you're not much of a non-fiction reader, this is an entertaining book that can capture your attention just as easily as a novel.

[...]


Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - Great Aviation Non-fiction!
Emilio Corsetti has done a great job of researching this accident and has written a rivetting account of the events. It is a great read for an aviation professional or anyone looking for real-life drama.

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