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Bracing for Impact
- True Tales of Air Disasters and the People Who Survived Them
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins
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Bracing for Impact
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Publisher's summary
"Surviving is a true blessing that few get to experience."
Being strapped in the seat of a plane as it plunges into a nosedive midair is everyone's worst nightmare. Bracing for Impact's compilers and contributors know. They have both lived out that fear and survived, albeit badly hurt, in their own plane crashes.
In this collection of true-life survivor tales, people from all walks of life - a freelance writer, a crew member of the Lynyrd Skynyrd band, a naval flight surgeon, a teenager, and a newlywed on her honeymoon, among others - recount their traumatic narrow escapes as engines stalled, fuel ran out, hazardous weather conditions descended, and landings did not go according to plan. In the face of death, as life flashed before their eyes - or not, as some wryly note - these survivors encountered the terrific split of before and after the crash. Their lives, though preserved, would change forever.
Perhaps more significant than the crash itself is how each story plays out in the aftermath of the ordeal. In heart-wrenching, unrelenting honesty, these stories explore the wide spectrum of impacts on survivors - ranging from debilitating fear, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse to a renewed sense of urgency, where survivors swear to live each day to the fullest and rededicate their lives to helping others.
Including the 1977 story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash that killed lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and vocalist Cassie Gaines, Bracing for Impact is as much a horrific account of air disasters as it is a celebration and recognition of the people who survived them.
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Compelling read.
- By teri on 06-19-18
By: Samme Chittum
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Flight 232
- A Story of Disaster and Survival
- By: Laurence Gonzales
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 484
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 429
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 426
As hundreds of rescue workers waited on the ground, United Airlines Flight 232 wallowed drunkenly over the bluffs northwest of Sioux City. The plane slammed onto the runway and burst into a vast fireball. The rescuers didn't move at first: nobody could possibly survive that crash. And then people began emerging from the summer corn that lined the runways. Miraculously, 184 of 296 passengers lived. No one has ever attempted the complete reconstruction of a crash of this magnitude.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Therapeutic
- By Quiltedwings on 05-07-15
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Sully
- My Search for What Really Matters
- By: Chesley B. Sullenberger, Jeffrey Zaslow
- Narrated by: Michael McConnohie, Chesley B. Sullenberger
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 762
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 693
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 690
On January 15, 2009, the world witnessed a remarkable emergency landing when Captain "Sully" Sullenberger skillfully glided US Airways flight 1549 onto the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 passengers and crew. His cool actions not only averted tragedy but made him a hero and an inspiration worldwide. His story is now a major motion picture from director/producer Clint Eastwood and starring Tom Hanks, Laura Linney, and Aaron Eckhart.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Really Dull.
- By Nick on 09-14-16
By: Chesley B. Sullenberger, and others
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Why Planes Crash
- An Accident Investigator's Fight for Safe Skies
- By: David Soucie, Ozzie Cheek
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 294
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 266
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 263
Boarding an airplane strikes at least a small sense of fear into most people. Even though we all have heard that the odds of being struck by lightning are greater than the odds of perishing in a plane crash, it still doesn't feel that way. Airplane crashes might be rare, but they do happen, and they’re usually fatal. David Soucie insists that most of these deaths could be prevented. He’s worked as a pilot, a mechanic, an FAA inspector, and an aviation executive. He’s seen death up close and personal - deaths of colleagues and friends that might have been prevented if he had approved certain safety measures in the aircrafts they were handling.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Me, Me, Me
- By WakeNCAgent on 09-13-19
By: David Soucie, and others
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35 Miles from Shore
- The Ditching and Rescue of ALM Flight 980
- By: Emilio Corsetti III
- Narrated by: Fred Filbrich
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 107
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 94
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 93
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.
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5 out of 5 stars
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a new perspective on air travel
- By Midwestbonsai on 03-30-17
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Flight to Heaven
- A Plane Crash...a Lone Survivor...a Journey to Heaven - and Back
- By: Dale Black
- Narrated by: Dale Black
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 250
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 209
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 206
At age 19, pilot Dale Black miraculously survived an airplane crash that killed the other two pilots on board. Hovering between life and death for three days, he had a breathtaking experience of heaven. Against all odds and with insurmountable injuries, Capt. Black recovered from his injuries and returned to fly airplanes as a professional pilot. For 40 years he kept the story to himself at the urging of his grandfather to "live" his experience rather than talk about it.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great Story of Recovery and Faith
- By John on 01-12-13
By: Dale Black
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The Flight 981 Disaster
- Tragedy, Treachery, and the Pursuit of Truth
- By: Samme Chittum
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
On June 12, 1972, a powerful explosion rocked American Airlines Flight 96 a mere five minutes after its takeoff from Detroit. The explosion ripped a gaping hole in the bottom of the aircraft and jammed the hydraulic controls. Miraculously, despite the damage and ensuing chaos, the pilots were able to land the plane safely. Less than two years later, on March 3, 1974, a sudden, forceful blowout tore through Turk Hava Yollari (THY) Flight 981 from Paris to London. THY Flight 981 was not as lucky as Flight 96: it crashed in a forest in France.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Fill fill fill...
- By Rodney on 02-15-22
By: Samme Chittum
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Bird Dream
- Adventures at the Extremes of Human Flight
- By: Matt Higgins
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
Human flight is one of the last great challenges on Earth. Not like how the Wright brothers flew, but how we fly in our dreams. This is the goal of the Wingsuit Landing Project: to soar through the sky at speeds up to one hundred miles per hour and to land without the aid of a parachute. This project is the creation of 37-year-old Jeb Corliss, Jr., a Southern Californian who seeks to emulate a mode of flight more like a flying squirrel than bird or plane.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good read
- By Jowly on 04-22-15
By: Matt Higgins
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Fly by Wire
- The Geese, the Glide, the Miracle on the Hudson
- By: William Langewiesche
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 122
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67
On January 15, 2009, a US Airways Airbus A320 had just taken off from LaGuardia Airport in New York when a flock of Canada Geese collided with it, destroying both of its engines. The plane's pilot, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, managed to glide it to a safe landing in the Hudson River. It was an instant media sensation---the "Miracle on the Hudson"---and Captain Sully was the hero. But how much of the success of this dramatic landing can actually be credited to the genius of the pilot?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Abridgement
- By Roy on 04-27-10
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A Race to Freedom
- The Mira Slovak Story
- By: David Williams
- Narrated by: Brian Callanan
- Length: 16 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 30
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 27
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Story5 out of 5 stars 27
Mira Slovak was born in Czechoslovakia and endured both the Nazi occupation and the brutal Russian liberation. He joined the Czech Air Force, rising to captain by the age of 21. When he could no longer tolerate life under the Communists, he hijacked an airliner and flew across the Iron Curtain to freedom. He outlasted communism, and when it collapsed in 1990, he returned to his home, only to realize his true home was and always would be the US.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Free to live as an American.
- By cosmitron on 06-08-18
By: David Williams
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Riding Rockets
- The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut
- By: Mike Mullane
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 201
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 183
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Story5 out of 5 stars 183
In 1978, the first group of space shuttle astronauts was introduced to the world - 29 men and six women who would carry NASA through the most tumultuous years of the space shuttle program. Among them was USAF Colonel Mike Mullane, who, in his memoir Riding Rockets, strips the heroic veneer from the astronaut corps and paints them as they are - human.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not for the young...
- By Collecting Warehouse on 11-14-18
By: Mike Mullane
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Collision on Tenerife
- The How and Why of the World's Worst Aviation Disaster
- By: Jon Ziomek, Caroline Hopkins - contributor
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
The world's worst air disaster happened more than 40 years ago on a remote Atlantic Ocean island, when two fully loaded 747 passenger jets collided after a horrendous series of human errors. One of the jets, KLM Flight 4805, was traveling more than 150 miles an hour and was within seconds of lifting off when it crashed into Pan Am Flight 1736 taxiing in its path. The loss of lives was staggering - 583 dead. The crash happened after a lengthy series of major and minor human errors. In the intervening years, has aviation advanced to the point that such a disaster can't happen again?
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1 out of 5 stars
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90 percent filler
- By Laura747 on 11-01-21
By: Jon Ziomek, and others
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Tiger in the Sea
- The Ditching of Flying Tiger 923 and the Desperate Struggle for Survival
- By: Eric Lindner
- Narrated by: Gary Bennett
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 76
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
September 1962: On a moonless night over the raging Atlantic Ocean, a thousand miles from land, the engines of Flying Tiger flight 923 to Germany burst into flames, one by one. Pilot John Murray didn't have long before the plane crashed headlong into the 20-foot waves at 120 mph. As the four flight attendants donned life vests, collected sharp objects, and explained how to brace for the ferocious impact, 68 passengers clung to their seats. They all expected to die.
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2 out of 5 stars
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A disappointment. An exciting story ruined.
- By David on 06-07-21
By: Eric Lindner
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Fly Girls
- How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History
- By: Keith O'Brien
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,295
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,149
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,146
Between the world wars, no sport was more popular, or more dangerous, than airplane racing. Thousands of fans flocked to multi-day events, and cities vied with one another to host them. The pilots themselves were hailed as dashing heroes who cheerfully stared death in the face. Fly Girls recounts how a cadre of women banded together to break the original glass ceiling: the entrenched prejudice that conspired to keep them out of the sky.
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5 out of 5 stars
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For women, and dads
- By Cecilia Avanelle on 08-08-18
By: Keith O'Brien
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Real Life, Real Miracles
- True Stories That Will Help You Believe
- By: James L. Garlow, Keith Wall
- Narrated by: Jon Gauger
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 30
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 28
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Story5 out of 5 stars 28
Is God still doing miracles today? Absolutely! These real-life, credible stories of miraculous experiences, gathered by the authors of Miracles Are for Real, reveal that God is still very active in the world. Each gripping story is sure to encourage and inspire, offering hope and a sense of wonder. When Steve rolled his car, he should have been killed. Why didn’t he die that day? Caleb and Penny moved to a poor part of town to serve their community. But when one group of neighbors makes and sells drugs, will God’s angels protect them?
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5 out of 5 stars
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that miracles happen everyday.
- By Amazon Customer on 03-31-24
By: James L. Garlow, and others
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Flying Drunk
- By: Joseph Balzer
- Narrated by: Joseph Balzer
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Since he was a young boy, Joe Balzer dreamed of flying. He pursued his goal with passion and earned his pilot licenses, piling up hours of flight time with a wide variety of planes and jets with one overarching goal: to one day fly for a major airline. But Joe had a problem. He was an alcoholic and refused to admit to himself that he had a problem. His alcoholism caught up with him in March 1990, when Joe was arrested with two other pilots for flying a commercial airliner while under the influence of alcohol.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Surprisingly provocative...
- By William on 11-10-09
By: Joseph Balzer
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The Last Man On the Moon
- By: Eugene Cernan
- Narrated by: Eugene Cernan
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 293
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 258
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 256
This is the story of a unique American hero who came of age as an astronaut during the few dramatic years when man reached the moon. Cernan's career spanned the entire Apollo program, from the tragic fire that killed three of his comrades on Apollo 1, through the moment when he left man's last footprint on the moon as commander of Apollo 17.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Yet Another Perspective
- By Shellbin on 12-28-12
By: Eugene Cernan
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Fire Flight
- By: John J. Nance
- Narrated by: John J. Nance
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 90
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
Veteran pilot Clark Maxwell thought his fire bombing days were well behind him. But when Jerry Stein, Maxwell's friend and air tanker fleet-owner, calls at the height of the fire season to beg him to reenter the war, he doesn't hesitate. As the wildfires spread, whipped by massive winds and the federal forces arrayed against the fires reach their limits, hysteria and potential evacuation threatens the local population.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Does he even breathe?
- By Thor Vadstein on 09-10-22
By: John J. Nance
What listeners say about Bracing for Impact
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- LWC
- 07-24-20
Bracing for More
I am not sure what made me download this book but I did. I gave up have way through.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Admiralu
- 10-16-19
Fascinating and Insightful Accounts of Survival
This book was a collection of fascinating accounts of individuals who survived what has to be one of the most frightening events, airplane crashes. The anger, rage, heartbreak, fear and other varied emotions are raw and real. Some fare better than others. You can't help but think while reading this book, what would you do? The aftermath is often eye opening as well. One woman's hospital stay was horrific, coming right after the shock of the crash. The authors created a Facebook group for survivors that has been essential for healing. Anyone who flies or is afraid of flying should read this book. Some survived multiple crashes!😯 The power of the survivors group is highlighted and some excellent tips for surviving a crash are included. I read this book using immersion reading while listening to the audio book. The marvelous Jonathan Davis beautifully narrates this book, with a perfect balance of emotion and fact. An excellent read.
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