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"Andrew Jampoler...has spun a memorable tale...overall Adak is an adventure story to rival the best you've ever read." -Daniel Ford, The Wall Street Journal
In the tradition of great tales of men against the sea, Adak offers a compelling look at courage and commitment in the face of certain tragedy. Alfa Foxtrot 586 was a P-3 Orion on station on a sensitive Cold War mission off the Kamchatka Peninsula on 26 October 1978. When a propeller malfunction turned into an engine fire, the pilot was forced to ditch his turboprop into the empty, mountainous seas west of the Aleutian Islands. The aircraft went down in just ninety seconds, taking one of the three rafts with it. Thirteen men launched the other rafts, the smallest of which—terribly overcrowded—soon began to leak, threatening the nine men aboard. This account of the flight crew's desperate battle against the sea, and the heroic efforts to rescue them provide an engrossing true story of survival.
Andrew C. A. Jampoler is the author of Horrible Shipwreck!, The Last Lincoln Conspirator, and Sailors in the Holy Land. A resident of Leesburg, VA, he spent more than twenty years in the U.S. Navy and flew a P-3 Orion on the same mission from the same base.
“Andrew Jampoler...has spun a memorable tale...overall Adak is an adventure story to rival the best you've ever read.”— Daniel Ford, The Wall Street Journal
“Adak has all the attributes of high drama—courage, endurance, tragic error, self-sacrifice—the frailties and glories of mortal men. It manages to be both heartbreaking and inspiring. It is also the story of how the common bonds of seamen and airmen and of humanity thawed the Cold War for a few life-giving hours. For anyone who has sensed even briefly the deadly peril of freezing water, this story will be unforgettable.”— Jody Powell
Having been a "Golden Eagle" during the 1970s and transferring from the Squadron in December 1977 I knew many of the crew well. I also knew many of the rescue crews as well as the CO, XO and ASWOC personnel. Consequently it made the book very personal for me. Regardless of the intimate knowledge of the "folks" anybody who flew P-3s during that time in the history of the Cold War would be truly riveted with how Capt. Jampoler, using the accident investigation, wove a breathtaking tale. A great read.