A 1962-era
Super H
Constellation
cockpit.
shouldn’t try to make it all the way to Frankfurt, so
he laid out three alternatives: pull up short at Shan-
non Airport, about 1,000 miles closer; divert north
to Kef lavik Airport, closer still; or, the worst case
scenario, attempt a ditching, what the FA A referred
to as a “controlled water landing.” Parker worked
the radio, trying to keep the main rescue control
center in Cornwall apprised of Flying Tiger 923’s
coordinates and altitude, but he was struggling
to communicate over the narrow, mid-oceanic
high-frequency band. Garrett checked the perfor-
mance charts to determine the cruising altitude
that would cause the least strain per the current
engine configuration and weight: 5,000 feet. They
had enough fuel to reach Ireland.
But at 9:12 p.m. another red light f lashed in thecockpit: fire in engine no. 2. Murray reduced power,
Garrett feathered no. 2, the light went out, and the
nerve-fraying alarm fell silent, but now the plane
was f lying on one engine. It couldn’t do so for long,
so Garrett reversed the feather on no. 2. The props
realigned, and Flying Tiger 923 was back to two
engines; thankfully, one on each wing.
After Hard Luck plotted a course for Ireland,
Murray led a discussion on whether to deviate so as
to overf ly Britain’s Ocean Station Juliett or Amer-
ica’s Ocean Station Charlie. If ditching proved
necessary, it would be much better to do so near one
of the floating, well-provisioned outposts rather
than in the middle of the open, frigid sea.
Deviating wasn’t straightforward, however.
First, while the British weather station was 10048 November/December 2021
COURTESY URS MATTLE AND ERNST FREI