This Day in History January 29, 1968

While this record was quickly broken, it was on this date in 1968, that the Boeing 747SP circled the globe in 36 hours and 45 minutes with only two stopovers.  It was a 23,000 mile trip,  and it refueled in Athens and in Taiwan.

For more information:
http://famousdaily.com/history/united-airlines-boeing-747SP-circles.html

This Day in History, January 15, 2009

Remember this unbelievable landing?  That's right!  On this date in 2009, the "miracle on the Hudson" occurred.  U.S. Airways Flight 1549 was en route from New York La Guardia to Charlotte, North Carolina.  Both engines sucked in a bird or birds got sucked into both engines.  This led to fire and failure of both engines.  Captain Chesley Sullenberger had to land, and it ended up being in the Hudson River.  All passengers were safely rescued, and his expert landing has been hailed as a miracle.

For more information:
http://famousdaily.com/history/miracle-on-the-hudson.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28678669/ns/us_news-life/t/ny-jet-crash-called-miracle-hudson/#.UPVX2B00WSo

Karma Media Book Tours: "Captain" by Thomas Block Review

Welcome to another great Karma Media Book Tour, where you will find honest reviews and insights into today’s authors and books.
Each tour stop is unique, so remember to check back with the tour daily. View the entire tour schedule here:

This tour will feature:

Author: Thomas Block

Featuring the book: Captain

CreateSpace (April 7, 2012) - 348 Pages

Available in Paperback and Kindle ($16.99/$6.99)

Action/Adventure/Thriller

About the Author:

Thomas Block has written a number of aviation-oriented novels, many which have gone on to acquire best-seller status in numerous countries. His novel writing began with the publication of "Mayday" in 1979. That novel was rewritten with his boyhood friend, novelist Nelson DeMille in 1998 and remains on DeMille's extensive backlist. "Mayday" became a CBS Movie of the Week in October, 2005.

Other novels by Block include "Orbit" (a top bestseller in Germany, among other nations), "Airship Nine", "Forced Landing" (also done as a radio serializatoin drama in Japan), "Skyfall", "Open Skies" and "Captain". Thomas Block is still writing both fiction and non-fiction, and has edited and updated his earlier novels into ebooks of all the major formats and also into new full-sized (trade soft cover) printed versions.

www.ThomasBlockNovels.com
www.Facebook.com/Captain.by.Thomas.Block
www.Facebook.com/ThomasBlockNovels

About the Book:

'Captain' is his most ambitious, intricate and action-packed aviation tale yet . It is a chilling and all-too-real story about a routine Trans-Atlantic airline flight that suddenly turns absolutely insane. In the doomed airliner's cockpit, inside the passenger cabin and on the ground, a complex array of characters have been propelled at jet speed into a sudden and frantic race for survival. 'Captain' is about the individual and collective struggles of each of these men and women as they attempt to deal with and ultimately fight against the odds and circumstances that are stacked against them.

'Captain' is a novel that pits man against man while also pitting man against machine. It is a story about the need for human judgments, hard-learned experiences, gut feelings and unbridled perseverance in an effort to rise up against a world where the strict adherence to written rules, regulations and procedures have been accepted as the norm.

'Captain' is about the way real airline pilots think, feel and react, especially after those giant airliners that they've strapped themselves to have suddenly turned vicious and unpredictable.


Captain by Thomas Block
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Are you ready for one of the wildest rides of your life?  This book was incredible!  When I began reading it, I thought I might be bored with the book.  After all, what on earth do I know about airplanes.  And, yes, some of this book is technical, and I did not understand all of those sections.  But you know what?  I did not matter!  This book was filled with such nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat action that I almost could not put it down.

The characters were quite intriguing.  There was a lot more going for this book than just the main story.  There were several sub-stories that made me consider the meaning of life and the way people react to stress and various other situations.  The author seamlessly wove the other stories into the very fabric of the book, and nothing seemed out of place.

I am happy to announce that there were no sex scenes.  Yes, there was profanity, but mostly it did not bother me.  The strength of the story kept me going, and I was able to overlook any language issues.

I truly enjoyed the style in which the book was written.  The reader was able to go back and forth between what was  happening on the air and what was happening on the ground.  In so doing, the tension was doubled.  The reader is privy to both sides of the story, and this made my pulse race as I continued reading and reached the conclusion.  And how does it end?  Read it yourself!  I will tell you this.  You will not know for sure until the end!

So if you are ready to read a book that will transport you to the friendly skies and rob you of sleep and peace, this is the book for you!  It is a wild ride, and I seriously doubt you will regret it.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are 100 percent mine, and I was not financially compensated.


View all my reviews

Disclosure: This tour was brought to you by Karma Media. As a participant of this book tour, I received a copy of the book in hardcopy or ebook format for the purposes of sharing my honest review with you.

If you are interested in joining Karma Media Book Tours or would like to explore the possibility of having Karma Media feature your book or series, we invite you to visit our team website at www.karmamediateam.com

This Day in History June 23, 1985

I don't really remember this happening, but it is an event that did happen during my lifetime.  It was on this date in 1985 that the deadliest plane disaster in aviation history occurred.  Air India Flight 182 went down as a result of a bomb explosion.  It was en route to Canada from India with a stopover in London Heathrow.  The explosive was in a checked bag of a passenger who never officially boarded.

This was the worst mass murder in modern Canadian history, and until 9/11, it was the costliest disaster in terms of lives lost.  All 329 people on the plane died.  Some of the people survived the initial explosion but either drowned or died in the cold water.

Canadians are probably more familiar with the court case issues involving this since it was handled in their country and paid for by them.  If you are interested, you can check out the websites listed at the end of this post.

As I read this story, I was reminded yet again of the brevity of life.  I am sure that each of those passengers and crew members boarded that flight routinely as if it were a normal day.  They did not get on that flight expecting it to be their last.  When death came, I am sure it came quickly.  They may have had a few moments to understand and anticipate the fact that they were dying or going to die.  I think the worst must have been those who survived the explosion and knew they were going to crash in the water.  Maybe some of those hoped for a chance to survive.  I can only hope and pray that they knew where they were going when they realized the imminence of death.

For more information, please check out:
http://www.x-rayscreener.com/?CategoryID=332&ArticleID=175
http://www.firstpost.com/tag/air-india-flight-182
http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Air_India_Flight_182
http://www.cbc.ca/news/airindia/
http://www.airdisaster.com/special/special-ai182.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Flight_182#Recovery_of_wreckage_and_bodies

This Day in History April 6, 1926

Today's feature mentions Washington state, so here goes!  On this date in 1926, the first contract mail flight in the Northwest occurred.  Walter Varney was a flight instructor, and he bid on an airmail route that went from "nowhere to nowhere."  The route was Pasco, Washington through Boise, Idaho, and ending in Elko, Nevada.  It was a 450-mile route!

As the years went on, Varney Airlines and National Air Lines merged to create United Airlines.  United went on to become Continental Airlines.  It was in 1933 when his planes began carrying passengers.

For more information, please check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varney_Airlines
http://www.examiner.com/this-day-history-in-national/varney-air-lines

Win $100 to Southwest Airlines with the Fly Away Giveaway! (Ends 3/28) WW

So you wanna get away? Let me help you out! I’ve teamed up with some fellow bloggers to host the Fly Away Giveaway where you can win $100 to Southwest Airlines! Enter to win below!

This Day in History February 3, 1959

When I saw what happened on this day, I knew I had to cover this.  I have not been doing my Music Monday posts this year--I plan to get back into that--but this is a story that touches me.  I always told this story with a great deal of sadness in my music classes.






These three men featured in these videos--the Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, and Buddy Holly were tragically killed in an airplane crash on this date in 1959.  They were on tour, and these three got the honor of flying on the airplane.  The bus tour had been very uncomfortable, and the chartered plan was supposed to be better.

Although the weather was not the greatest, it was not a blizzard when they took off early that fateful morning. The plane crashed shortly after take-off.  It was mainly pilot error since the pilot was not even a certified pilot as of yet.  Of course, the pilot died as well.  It was death on impact.

Indeed it was a tragedy, and I am only using this site as my resource since I have taught about this story several times.  It has just been a few years since I have, so I am trying to refresh my memory.

I will end with a song that immortalized "The Day the Music Died."

This Day in History January 11, 1995

A bittersweet story for today indeed.  On this date in 1995, a horrible plane crash occurred.  An Intercontinental Airlines plane with 52 passengers and crew aboard was flying from Bogota, Columbia to the Columbian resort city of Cartagena.

The pilot was evidently trying to make some kind of emergency landing near a swamp, but instead, for a still unknown reason, it hit a grassy field, exploded, and then fell into a lagoon.  It would seem that this would have killed all people aboard.

But there is an amazing story connected with this.  Nine-year-old Erika Delgado was traveling with her parents and younger brother.  She told her rescuers that right before the plan broke apart, her mother shoved her out of the plane.  She landed on a piece of seaweed that broke her fall.  She was found by a farmer to whom she reportedly said that God had told her to stay where she was until help came.  She only suffered shock and a broken arm.

Later on, she said that when she was crying out for help, someone approached her and ripped the gold necklace from her neck, her only memento from her father. Evidently looters stole things from other bodies from the crash site as well.  When Erika returned to her home, she became a national celebrity and became known as "Little Miss Miracle."

I have no idea where she is now.  She would be around 26 now.  I can't imagine how it would have been growing up after such a trauma happened.  It is indeed a story that is both amazing and sad.  I hope I never experience being the sole survivor of any event.

My information for today's feature comes from these sites:
http://listverse.com/2008/06/18/top-10-sole-survivors-of-a-plane-crash/
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-05-13/world/libya.planecrash.survivors_1_plane-air-crash-francesca-lewis/2?_s=PM:WORLD

This Day in History December 17, 1901

Orville and Wilbur Wright became famous on this date in 1901.  Or at least they began the path to fame.  And Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.  Most of you will remember that the Wright Brothers flew the first self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft.  This biplane was piloted by Orville, and the biplane stayed in the air for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet.

Their quest for flight began in the 1890's when they learned of German glider flights.  They did not attend college, but their mechanical skills were extraordinary.  They owned their own bicycle shop, and it was through this success that they were able to pursue their dreams of flight.

As they continued to improve their airplanes following their first flight, they kept a low profile.  This enabled them to secure patents and contracts for their flying machines.  In 1909, they founded the Wright Company to build and market their airplanes.  Unfortunately, Wilbur died of typhoid fever in 1912, but Orville lived until 1948.

Because this story is so well-known, I am only leaving you one link:
http://www.history.co.uk/this-day-in-history/December-17.html