About the Book

Rescues from the Sky features the true stories of the USCG Aviation Medical Rescue Service as seen through the eyes of a wet-behind-the-ears flight surgeon fresh out of training. The events it recounts took place during the author’s experience while stationed at USCG Air Station San Francisco from 1971 to 1973. The rescues are described in detail and include, among others:

  • The crash of a 747 on the runway on the author’s first day of work

  • The hijacking of a 737 by two Bulgarians

  • The rescue of a woman bleeding from an abortion performed on a Russian submarine

  • Saving the life of a sailboat owner in Half Moon Bay who had a heart attack and fell unconscious while sailing in thirty-mile-per-hour winds toward a rocky shore

  • Rescuing a Czech crewman who developed appendicitis fifty miles at sea in a storm with fifty-five mile-per-hour winds

 

Modern day hoist rescue

The author describes a hoist rescue performed by the United States Coast Guard near Portsmouth, Virginia on May 8, 2020

 

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