I understand seeing people fighting for their lives and knowing that if you don't act, they are doomed. But I've never seen seas that high, much less landed in them (granted, the waves they dealt with might not have been as high as those forecasted), so all I can wrap my mind around is that it took a monumental amount of guts to risk their lives to land and rescue the B-17 crew. A thousand things could have gone wrong, putting the Catalina crew in another raft right along the B-17 guys. Really, a lot of things could have gone wrong and the B-17 crew could have drowned or been chopped up by the propellers, and then the Catalina crew would take their place. But everything went right. Wow.
Considering no plane saw them until they were in the middle of a storm and they had to shoot their last flare, and these men were certainly about to die, you'd have a hard time convincing me that this wasn't a divine miracle.
Famed flyer Eddie Rickenbacher was on a B-17 that ditched in the Pacific. As I recall, the crew drifted for 45 days before they were rescued.
Harrowing doesn’t even begin to describe it.
I just read a story about a small sailboat crew who was adrift for ten days before being rescued last week. Their sailboat was dismasted, rolled over, then righted itself.
bump
I also highly recommend a visit to the PBY Naval Air Museum, Whidbey Island, WA, if you're ever in the neighborhood.
You know, it's not as extreme as this case (landing a plane on the ocean in very high sea state conditions - incomparable bravery end loyalty to comrades in arms) but the US Coast Guard will often risk life and limb in rescue operations in conditions like this. It's incredibly courageous and they get very little recognition or appreciation for it. So to any coasties on here reading about this amazing rescue at sea, know that it made me think about how grateful many of us are that you do what you do.
Bttt.
5.56mm
The Catalina was a great seaplane, wish I could find the film clip from “murphys war” where he flew the Grumman duck. Fly you bastard! fly!
I wanted a dehaviland twin otter
Louie said to Murphy “Are you sure you can get her up?”
Murphy says every scrap of her is in my fingers, I’ll get her up.
And Louie says yes, and if you do... can you get her down?
Murphy says “That I know I can do, now stop blathering and cast me of before the war is over...
*ping*