In the Event of a Water LandingIn the Event of a Water Landing At 8:15 A.M. on October 14, 1947, Chuck Martin, the 26-year-old pilot of the Boeing 314 flying boat named Bermuda Sky Queen, attempted to do what had never been done before - land an 88,000 pound aircraft in thirty-five-foot high seas. The lives of sixty-eight passengers and crew on board depended on his ability. A mile away was the 327-foot US Coast Guard Cutter George M. Bibb. The cutter's crew watched as the plane descended. If Sky Queen survived the landing, getting the passengers to safety would be their job. Nine years later and half a world away, Captain Richard Ogg, flying the Pan American Airways Stratocruiser Sovereign of the Skies, was forced ditch the aircraft along with its forty-three passengers and crew. The Coast Guard was nearby. Manning Ocean Station November was the US Coast Guard Cutter Pontchartrain. Once more, rescuing the survivors would be in their hands. In the Event of a Water Landing tells for the first time the full stories of the Bermuda Sky Queen and Sovereign of the Skies rescues, the only two completely successful open ocean ditchings in Commercial Aviation history. These two stories encompass many facets of ditchings: bad weather, engine failure, horrific sea conditions, and indomitable courage in the face of death. Between these two are tales of other ditchings as well as the journey we humans have undertaken from the beginning of transoceanic flight to today. Using the voices of passengers, flight crew, and those who rescued them, an amazing tale unfolds. Their vivid memories, interspersed with contemporary news reports, serve to flesh out the unemotional entries from official investigations. These ditchings and rescues embody the hopes, fears, and courage of people facing death hundreds of miles from land and the audacity of the men who risked their own lives to save them. |
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aircraft airplane Airport Airways altitude aviation Bermuda Sky Queen Bibb Bibb’s Boeing Boeing 377 Stratocruiser Boeing Commercial Airplanes Captain Ogg celestial celestial navigation Chuck Martin Clipper Coast Guard cutters cockpit commercial compartment copilot crash crew members Cronk ditch heading Ditched Safely emergency evacuation exit fatalities feet fire flight crew flying boat Flying Tiger Flying Tiger Line fuel fuselage Gander going Gwen Ritchie hijackers hypothermia impact inflate Island jackets knots landing later liferaft main cabin door Manila Mike Hall miles minutes Navy night North Atlantic Northwest Airlines Ocean Station ocean weather station Officer operations Pacific Pan American Airways passengers and crew Phil Taylor pilot plane Pontchartrain propeller pulled radio raft Rall reported Reprinted with permission rescue sea conditions seat Shannon ship Sovereign Stepanoff stewardesses Stratocruiser surfboat survived survivors swell took transatlantic Transocean Air Lines transoceanic turned USCGC waves Weather Patrols wind wing