Louie recoiled in horror, jerking his legs to the side, away from the shark's mouth. The shark kept coming, directly at Louie's head. Louie rammed his palm into the tip of the shark's nose. The shark flinched, circled away, then swam back at him again. Louie waited until the shark was inches from him, then struck it on the nose again. Again, the shark peeled away. Above, the bullets stopped coming. As quickly as he could, Louie pulled himself along the cord until he reached the raft. He grabbed its wall and lifted himself clear of the shark.
This quote is from
an article about Louis Zamperini, whose planed crashed into the Pacific in 1941. He and two other men, Francis McNamara and Russell Phillips, made it into liferafts. They would drift in the ocean for weeks. The article is by Laura Hillenbrand, author of
Seabiscuit. For more about Zamperini and his amazing story you can go to
his website.
posted by Kattullus
on Jan 15, 2011 -
24 comments
On August 16, 2008, a small plane carrying a young married couple and their flight instructor crashed in the Arizona desert. Doug Kinneard, the instructor, was killed in the crash; Stephanie and Christian Nielson survived, both severely burned. Prior to the crash, Stephanie's weblog, the NieNie Dialogues,
"had attracted a small but ardent following, thanks to its upbeat dispatches about marriage, home décor, entertaining and the art of raising four children ages 6 and younger." After the crash, with burns on over 80% of her body, she spent two months in a medically induced coma. One month later, she was
released from the hospital (link to Stephanie's sister's blog); one month after that, she
began blogging again. Stephanie's posts since then have chronicled her
gradual recovery, her re-integration into
her family, her
love and gratitude for her husband, and, finally, on the one-year anniversary of the plane crash,
herself. [more inside]
posted by granted
on Aug 16, 2009 -
61 comments
Wired: "In February, a B-2 stealth bomber crashed in Guam. Now we know why. And we've got video of the scene." (good stuff starts around 1:20)
posted by stbalbach
on Jun 6, 2008 -
124 comments
The Bijlmermeer Disaster Yesterday marked the anniversary of the 1992 crash of El Al Flight 1862 into the Amersterdam neighborhood of
Bijlmermeer, "whose sordid aftermath opened up a whole can of worms relating to secret weapons trafficking and unaccountable government." Six years after the crash, an investigation revealed that the flight had been carrying three of the four chemicals needed for
Sarin.
posted by frecklefaerie
on Oct 5, 2006 -
19 comments
The Iraq-September 11th smoking gun? Finally, near proof that Iraq was involved in the September 11th attacks on America: a mural in the Iraqi military headquarters in Nasiriya depicts a plane crashing into a building complex similar to New York's twin towers! (Okay, seriously, are some folks so desperate to make the connection that this might become an actual story?)
posted by johnnydark
on Mar 27, 2003 -
50 comments
30 years ago, a group of Uruguayan rugby players
traveled to Chile to play a game against a local team. Their plane crashed in the Andes Mountains. The 27 who survived the crash were forced to eat their teammates in order to survive. After 72 days in the mountains,
16 were rescued. Their story was told in the
book Alive and later a
movie by the same name. Today those survivors reunited in Chile and finally played the rugby game. The Uruguayans
won.
posted by einarorn
on Oct 13, 2002 -
10 comments
Singer Aaliyah Killed in Plane Crash R & B singer and actress Aaliyah died after a small plane that was to carry her and eight others back to the United States crashed after takeoff in the Bahamas, authorities said.
I keep typing a description here. and erasing it. I don't know what to say. This is beyond awful. :(
posted by mcsweetie
on Aug 25, 2001 -
71 comments
Going down? NPR's Savvy Traveler did a bit on this site; apparently it tells you the odds of a crash on your chosen flight. Question is, do I want to know?
posted by stevis
on Mar 3, 2001 -
2 comments
