35 Miles from Shore

35 MILES FROM SHORE

The Ditching and Rescue of ALM Flight 980

The Ditching and Rescue
of ALM Flight 980

Emilio Corsetti III

Published by Odyssey Publishing, LLC

Copyright © 2008 by Emilio Corsetti III

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress 2006902232

ISBN: 978-0-9778971-0-0

Publisher's Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Corsetti, Emilio.
         35 miles from shore: the ditching and rescue of ALM flight 980/
         Emilio Corsetti III.
         p. cm.
         Includes bibliographical references.
         ISBN 9780977897100
1. Aircraft accidents–Investigations–Virgin Islands of the United States.
2. Survival after airplane accidents, shipwrecks, etc. I. Thirty-five miles from
shore : the ditching and rescue of ALM flight nine hundred eighty. II.Title.
TL553.5.C66 2007
363.124–dc22                              2006902232

For the missing

Figure 1. Route map.

Crew

1. Captain Balsey D. DeWitt

2. First Officer Harry E. Evans II

3. Navigator Hugh H. Hart

4. Stewardess Margareth A. Abraham
*

5. Steward Tobias (Tito) G. Cordeiro

6. Purser Wilford J. Spencer

Passengers:
(This list was taken from newspaper accounts. Errors in names have been corrected where known.)

1. Barbara Adler

2. Jerome Adler
*

3. Edward Alexander

4. Rick Arnold

5. Elaine Babb

6. B. Bernitt
*

7. G. Bessi
*

8. Jacinth M. Bryanth

9. Gloria Caldwell

10. Jennifer Caldwell
*

11. Kristin Caldwell
*

12. William Caldwell
*

13. H. Carey
*

14. Mildred Carey

15. Christine Cromwell

16. A. Edwards
*

17. Ethel Eisenberg

18. Julius Eisenberg
⁺

19. Frances Ellison

20. Wilma Evans

21. Winston Evans

22. Allen Grant

23. Gene Gremelsbacker
*

24. Loretta Gremelsbacker

25. Walter Hodge

26. Esther Holmes

27. Arthur Johnson

28. Sybil Johnson

29. George Kellner

30. Martha Kellner

31. Israel Kruger

32. Toby Kruger

33. J. Kurtz
*

34. Mrs. Kurtz
*

35. Jeannie Larmony

36. Alex McCauley
*

37. Mrs. Paris
*

38. William Paris

39. Mrs. Marion Parmentier
*

40. Mr. Robert Parmentier
*

41. C. Phillips
*

42. Margaret Phillips

43. Hedwig (Hedi) Razzi
*

44. James Razzi

45. Vivian Rosoto

46. Giancafo Rossini

47. Jane Schmidt

48. Roger Schmidt

49. David Schwartz

50. Sylvia Schwartz

51. Jacques Urighere
*

52. Sylvia Urighere
*

53. Emerson Ussery

54. Yvonne Vulliemoz

55. Philip Winslow

56. V. Zangara
*

57. Mrs. E. Zipkin
*

* Missing

⁺
Pronounced dead upon arrival at the St. Croix hospital

Crew of Pan Am 454 (Boeing 727)
Captain – William Pash
First Officer – William M. Hall
Flight Engineer – James L. Phillips

Antilles Airboat 62C
Crew unknown

Crew Of Skyvan N33BB
Pilot – Bill Bohlke Jr.
Co-Pilot – George Johnson
Paul Wikander
Andy Titus
George Stoute

Crew of HU-16 Albatross 7245
Pilot – Lieutenant Thomas E. Blank
Co-Pilot – Lieutenant (j.g.)
Richard Evans
Radio operator – Barkley
Remainder of crew unknown

US Coast Guard HH-52A
Helicopters from San Juan

Crew of Helicopter 1463
Pilot – Lieutenant (j.g.) William Shields
Co-Pilot – Lieutenant (j.g.) Carmond C. Fitzgerald
Third crewmember unknown

Crew of Helicopter 1426
Pilot – Lieutenant Commander Jim Brawley
Co-Pilot – Captain Charles Mayes

Crew of U.S. Navy SH-3A (Sea King) helicopter from Roosevelt Roads Puerto Rico
Fleet Composite Squadron (VC-8) GF-15
Pilot – Lieutenant Commander LCDR James E. Rylee
Co-Pilot – Lieutenant (j.g.) Donald G. Hartman
Chief Aviation Machinist's Mate – William A. Brazzell
Aviation Machinist's Mate – Calvin V. Lindley

Marine Medium Helicopter
Squadron 261 (HMM-261)
Marine Aircraft Group 26, 2nd
Marine Aircraft Wing, FMF,
Atlantic Marine Corps Air Station
(Helicopter) New River,
Jacksonville, NC

Crew of EM-15
Pilot – Major Dennis Beckman
Co-Pilot – Lieutenant Ken Bradley
Rest of crew unknown

Crew of EM-13
Pilot – Captain Art Nash
Co-Pilot – Captain Bill Murphy
Crew Chief – Corporal John D. Barber
Corporal Vince Perron
Captain Randy Logan

Crew of EM-16
Pilot – Captain Charles Crookall
Rest of crew unknown

EM-14
Crew unknown

EM-07
Pilot – Captain Glen C. Warren
Co-Pilot – Captain Ned J. Lemoine
Crew Chief – Sergeant Gary Bockman
First Mechanic – Lance Corporal William S. Schrader
Rest of crew unknown

EM-01
Pilot – Captain Gordon Tubesing
Rest of crew unknown

Crew of U.S.C.G. Cutter
Point Whitehorn
Commander – Billy C. Cobb
Boatswain Mate First Class – Kenneth P. Borrego
Commisaryman Second Class – G. E. Baez
Fireman – Paul Molignoni
Seaman – Earl Floyd
Seaman – R.C. Sass
Remainder of crew unknown

NTSB
George R. Baker – Investigator In Charge
Gerrit Walhout – Survival Factors Group
Isabel A. Burgess – Chairman for the hearings

Technical Panel
Dr. John H. Fahrni – Human
Factors Group – Co-Chairman
Martin A. Speiser – Operations Group Chairman
Francis X. Graves – Air Traffic Control Group

FAA
Carl Morgan – FAA man in charge of ONA
Mack Wood – Flight Standards Office FAA in San Juan

ONA
G. F. Steedman Hinckley – President and CEO
J. W. Bailey – Executive Vice President and General Manager
Malcolm E. Starkloff – Director of Operations
Edward Veronelli – Assistant DC-9 Chief Pilot
Vince Duffy – Marketing Vice President for ONA
George Chopay – ONA Maintenance Representative
Kristina Linder – Flight Attendant Instructor
Edwin A. Leiser – Superintendent of Maintenance
John P. O'Brien – ALPA Lawyer
Stephen R. Lang – ONA lawyer
Robert E. Wagenfeld – Assistant Vice President-Legal

ALM
Ciro Octavio (Tawa) Irausquin – President
Max Waas – Chief Purser

Figure 2. DC-9 seating diagram.