Ditching the Sky

A Memoir of Triumph Against All Odds

By: Heidi A Porch

Narrated by: Heidi A. Porch

Heidi's story is extraordinary. Imagine being 540 miles from land, with nothing but water in sight, and then experiencing every pilot's worst nightmare - a complete engine failure. Heidi's fixed-gear Cessna bounced off the ocean's surface, flipped onto its back, and began to sink. What followed was a nine-hour ordeal, battling 10-foot seas in a tiny life raft, with the shadow of the Cold War looming as she was finally rescued by a Soviet vessel. Her story is not only one of survival, but of aspirations realized, love found, and then lost, and how childhood trauma became of source of strength to be called upon. It is a harrowing tale of courage, resilience, and the enduring human spirit.

©2024 Heidi A. Porch (P)2024 Heidi A. Porch

Critic reviews

Audie Award® Finalist — Narration by the Author
The audiobook edition of Ditching the Sky was named a finalist for the Audie Awards®, honoring outstanding achievement in audiobook narration by its author.

Heidi’s tenacity and humor.

Heidi does a great job of balancing the technicalities of flight with her ditching story.

This Would Make An Epic Movie

What a tale, to navigate across the Pacific using radio relay and dead reckoning would take skills and grit.

A true travel adventure.

I'm recommending to book club friends and those who like adventure.

Amazing story!

Wonderfully told from beginning to end! Authentic, vulnerable, honest. Really made me feel I was experiencing it as I listened. Remarkable!

Great read, a true pioneer.

Loved the pace and the accomplishment she’s done as one of the first female airline pilots.

An amazing story beautifully written.

As a female pilot myself I knew I wanted to hear this story. It was better than I could have imagined.