35 Miles from Shore: The Ditching and Rescue of ALM Flight 980

Emilio Corsetti, III
Odyssey Publishing (2008)
ISBN 9780977897100
Reviewed by William Phenn for Reader Views (11/08)




Fifty thousand tons of steel falling toward the ocean at over 200 miles per hour! 

This is the scenario that the author presents at the climax of the book. What begins with a slow and thorough history of ALM Airlines culminates with a bang, or should I say crash?

Mr. Corsetti presents the true story of the ditching and rescue of ALM flight 980 off the coast of South America. He begins with an in-depth study of the airline, how it started with just a few older aircraft and evolved into a more affluent international carrier. Mr. Corsetti goes on to give the reader an insight into the individual crew members. From a little background about them to the events that brought them aboard flight 980.  He describes the plane and mentions some of the key features of the aircraft. Some of the features that were mentioned included such things as where the life rafts were kept and the handling characteristics of the DC 9. Mr. Corsetti also went into detail of how and what caused flight 980 to go down.

The book “35 Miles from Shore: The Ditching and Rescue of ALM Flight 980” is a very interesting and well-researched volume of fact. Mr. Corsetti left no stone unturned in his detailed book of this accident and the rescue that followed. His description of the aftermath of the crash, the anguish of the survivors after the ditching, brought the reader right into the midst of the action.

I would recommend this book to all ages that enjoy a good, fact-based novel. “35 Miles from Shore: The Ditching and Rescue of ALM Flight 980” by Emilio Corsetti, III, was well written, well researched and well presented. I gave it a very deserving A rating.

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