In the air force
no mission receives greater priority than the mission of mercy. When lives are
at stake all resources available are dedicated to the task. Aircrew, ground
crew, paramedics, doctors, mountaineers, navy divers, policemen and trained
civilian volunteers are rapidly organized into a rescue team and dispatched with
all haste to the disaster scene. This requires training, preparedness,
dedication, determination and courage. Rescue missions are often flown in
weather conditions that would normally ground all aircraft. Scenarios are as
diverse as high-rise fires, mountain, flood and maritime rescues, to white-outs
in the snows of Antarctica. Originally published in 1999 as Fire, Flood
and Ice, this updated edition includes yet more spectacular South African Air
Force (SAAF) search and rescue missions, both military and civilian. Included is
the remarkable rescue of all 581 people from the ill-fated liner Oceanos, for
which the author was mentioned in dispatches for his role as commander of the
rescue operation. Also new are heart-warming accounts of SAAF rescues during the
devastating floods of 2000 in Mozambique, which captured the
world’s attention.
