35 Miles from Shore

The Ditching and Rescue of ALM Flight 980

De: Emilio Corsetti III

Narrado por: Fred Filbrich

Winner of the 2018 Audiobook Listeners Award for Nonfiction

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

©2008 Emilio Corsetti III (P)2016 Emilio Corsetti III

WOW!!!

Any additional comments?

This is a very good book. It's fast paced and well written. I enjoy listening and watching shows about airline crashes and disasters, not for the crash itself, but for the cause of the accident and eventual fixes for the cause. As for this accident, it happened before I was born, so this is one that I haven't heard of before. The author did a great job outlining the issues and events that lead up to the accident, the people involved in both the accident and rescue. The narrator did a great job.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Detailed book that reads like a fictional tale

I like to learn so I enjoy picking up nonfiction audiobooks from time to time. 35 Miles From Shore tells the true story of the “ditching and rescue of ALM Flight 980” along with the company and the pilots’ backstory leading up to that fateful day.

My best friend is really into planes — pretty much any kind of plane you can think of he likes from little prop planes to big fighter jets. So I picked this book up because I wanted to chat with him about it and maybe even recommend him a new book to listen to. I was right because 35 Miles From Shore was a really interesting, well researched, and incredibly told story.

You can tell that Emilio Corsetti III is a pilot too since there are details in this book that no normal human would know or understand. Thankfully Corsetti was able to write these things out in a way that a normal non-aviation person could understand.

Sure, if you’re not into planes (or scared of plane crashes) I would probably avoid this book. And obviously, if you’re not a non-fiction fan maybe steer clear. But, for a non-fiction book, there were parts of it that Corsetti was able to write like he was writing a fictional tale. Combine that with the overwhelming amount of knowledge that this book has — any aviation or airplane crash fans will find a gem in this story.

Corsetti weaves a tale full of detail, descriptions, and woe in the telling of the crash of ALM Flight 980.

The narration of 35 Miles From Shore was done by Fred Filbrich who I thought did a really nice job. He was able to walk me through a story with lots of detail and made it easy to listen to.

I received a free copy of this book. It has not affected my review of my opinion.

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Great Capturing of Events

The author dedicated a lot of time and effort to this publication. A lot of changes over 50 years from NTSB, Unions, CRM and many other day-to-day functions in aviation.

Somebody Goofed - and It Wasn't Captain DeWitt

While the ditching was a major event in the lives of all concerned, this account is of medium interest.

Corsetti implies that the pilot was scapegoated for the accident, and he probably was; paper trails disappear for a good reason, and it seems obvious that this evaporated trail led to some uncomfortable conclusions for a couple of significant players. Peace to all the victims of this dreadful event.

A fascinating read

A fascinating read. Fast paced and well written it was very enjoyable.

The narration was well done. Great performance.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Terrifically Done!

35 Miles from Shore is fantastically laid out for even a non-pilot like myself can understand. As a frequent flyer, I had never really considered on the things that go into what the pilots and stewards do to protect and make our travels comfortable. The ditching of ALM Flight 980 took place before I was born and was an event that I had not known had occurred. By the writing of this book, you can tell that the author is either a pilot himself or has a passion for planes based on his descriptions and language/terminology that is used, which makes this even better. The narrator brings this story to life (bad word to use) walking the listener through the details with energy and explanation. Great book!

I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

True story

ALM Flight 980 was the first and only airplane to be open-water ditched of a commercial jet ever. On May 2, 1970 the flight was landed in the ocean just 35 miles from its diverted destination. There were 57 passengers and 6 crew on board heading for St. Maarten from New York’s JFK International Airport. The plain had been in the air 4 hours and 32 minutes when the Captain made the call to land in the ocean. It is unknown if he would of tried making that last 35 miles if the outcome would of been disastrous.

This book is so well written if takes you back in time to the airplane itself. The book is told not from the Authors point of view but from everyone involved that day. I love that there are reenactments in the book. They really make you feel like you were there. The research taken to make this book is outstanding.



I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Audiobookworm Promotions on behalf of various authors, narrators, and publishers. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

a new perspective on air travel

As I flew into SFO from PHX, I had a new perspective on air travel. I immediately found the life rafts. There were multiple and above the center aisle behind what looked like plastic attic doors. I kneeled and looked under my seat for the life vest. I turned off my audiobook as I listened intently for the instructions on how to inflate the life vest and made sure to get an aisle seat near the front cabin door. I wondered if my head would hit the tray table if I braced for impact. I now knew to wait to inflate my life vest until after I left the plane. I looked intently out the window as we passed over the bay and onto dry land in San Francisco. I could breathe again. This book will change how you travel, make you aware of your surroundings, and bring you one step closer to understanding what really makes for a safe airline and what doesn’t.

Emilio Corsetti III, in 35 Miles from Shore: The Ditching and Rescue of ALM Flight 980, starts with a strong hook, an airplane in the middle of the ocean that no one has come to investigate or pull out of the water because it’s a mile down. How did it get there? Why has it been down there so long? What happened? There are many directions Mr. Corsetti could have gone: a focus on the passengers’ point-of-view, the captain and flight crew’s, or the before and after on shore. He managed to weave all of the pieces together from the history of the airline itself, to the pilot’s backstory, the dramatic event, and the aftermath. While the general recommendation is to start in medias res, in the middle of the action, to create a dramatic beginning, the snapshot of the plane in the ocean was enough to propel a reader into the story and once there, he or she would not be disappointed with the narrative.

The premise is straightforward: Why did this tragedy happen? Emilio Corsetti III elevates the non-fiction genre to detective non-fiction where we learn everything about everyone in such a well articulated and compelling narrative that it doesn’t feel like we are in the classroom. Rather, we feel as if we are hearing the stories from multiple people as if we were the investigators ourselves. Corsetti III breathes life into technical jargon, complex procedural pieces, and turns what the mechanic sees into a vivid graphic through artful word choice and plain language.

The tower dialogues gave the audiobook an authentic theatrical feel more script-like than book. The explanations were so clear such that any bit of minutia or jargon found an explanation. From explaining tunnel vision as cognitive narrowing to the rationales for certain pilot altitude and airspeed choices, throughout the book I felt as if I had a mentor, a coach, teaching me about being a pilot. This is truly a book for anyone, it respects the jargon and speaks to the aviation enthusiast, but it speaks to us on a human level. What is it like to go through such an ordeal? How does a communication breakdown lead to a life-altering mistake? How do different people respond?

Because we are so invested in each character, know they are real; the last half of the book creates a satisfying closure to every thread of the story. It’s a rare author who can teach from the narrative rostrum with such detail as to both educate the reader and leave him looking around and appreciating the humanity in the giant machine of an airplane we take for granted. The irony of hell in a Caribbean paradise will not be lost on any of the readers. Is it worth reading? It’s worth listening right now.

Narrator Review

Fred Filbrich, the narrator, does a wonderful job with both the narrative and the dialogue. The book was more than an easy listen; it was one that I tried to fit in the spaces of time at the grocery store and on the way to and from work. Filbrich continue to press page-turning narrative with subtle elevations of his voice, empathetic caresses towards a tragedy, and the straightforward talk as if I was the only person in the room. It is the work of a consummate professional.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

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Gripping True Story

35 Miles from shore. .
I found this book absolutely gripping and nail biting. The description of the ditching and subsequent rescue of most of the passengers and crew is an emotional event. Whilst reading this I was also struck by the technical details and the balance between these and dramatic effect.
Credit to Fred Filbrichs narrating a difficult topic.
I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

A Ditched Airplane in a Turbulent Sea

This is a true life account of a ditched aircraft in a turbulent sea; which includes the chain of events that led up to the ditching, the flight crew's heroic actions when the plan was ditched, the rescue operation and the fallout after the accident.

Without being too much of a spoiler, what dismayed me was that the crew member who died in the ditching was honored as a hero, whereas the surviving crew were somewhat vilified, blamed and held more accountable than the higher ups that should of been held more accountable.

It is an interesting account and I felt for the crew who got scapegoated while the administration skated.

The administration decided to fly the routes before the extra fuel tanks could be installed on the planes. The crew received inadequate safety training for a ditching situation. The crew did not cause the fuel gauges to malfunction. And there were a whole bunch of other contributing factors to the mishap that were caused by executive decisions, not crew decisions.

Even though this is not a true crime story, true crime buffs would probably like this book. The narration was professionally preformed. It was clear and sharp and well enunciated.


I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.