Debut Author Shares an Important May Anniversary

When I spoke to author Emilio Corsetti III about his debut novel, 35 Miles From Shore, I was surprised that I had never heard of an important historical event that took place in May 1970. I wondered how many other people hadn't heard about it and asked him to tell me what he knew and what he covers in 35 Miles From Shore. Here's what he had to say:

"As you read this post you may be aware that tomorrow is the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby. You might also know that Monday is the 38th anniversary of the shootings at Kent State University. Hopefully you know that next Sunday, May 11, is Motherīs Day. For a few people, though, these dates and events are a sad reminder of another anniversary. It was thirty-eight years ago today (May 2nd) that a commercial jet with fifty-seven passengers and a crew of six ran out of fuel and was forced to ditch in the shark-infested waters of the Caribbean. It was at the time, and remains, the only open-water ditching of a commercial jet. Twenty-three of those on board did not survive.

For thirty-eight years the real story of what happened that day has remained a mystery. We know that the plane ran out of fuel after three failed landing attempts in St. Maarten. But why did the plane run out of fuel? Why wasnīt the plane able to land? And what happened to the twenty-two people who still remain missing?

These are the questions that are explored in the new book 35 Miles From Shore: The Ditching and Rescue of ALM Flight 980. As with all accidents involving commercial aircraft there was a thorough investigation. But were things missed or overlooked in the investigation? Did the investigators know that the tower controller at St. Maarten may have been pressured into giving a better weather report than what actually existed? Did they know that the accident could have been avoided had an extra fuel tank been installed as planned?

The plane has never been recovered. It went down in waters over five thousand feet deep. Technology at the time was too expensive to justify retrieval. The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder remain with the aircraft along with the secrets they contain.

Why has it taken so long for this story to be told? The accident happened in 1970 long before satellite news networks like CNN. Beyond limited news coverage, few who were involved in the accident were willing to discuss what happened while various investigations, job actions, and lawsuits played out. It would take time and the evolution of the Internet for this story to finally come to light.

For the past thirty-eight years the captain of the flight has been held responsible. To this day he has not once shifted blame to another individual. But the mistakes he admits to are not the only ones that led to the ditching of ALM Flight 980.

The book 35 Miles From Shore covers the accident in detail from the earliest planning stages to the harrowing rescue of survivors to the eventual liquidation of the airline."

You can purchase 35 Miles From Shore at Amazon.com