NCW Libraries

The passengers and crew of US Airways Fight 1549 feared the worst-the plane they were on was about to crash. The captain steadied the plane and landed it in the Hudson River. The passengers and crew evacuated to the wings of the plane as freezing water poured into the cabin. Moments later, the NYPD air-sea rescue team arrived. Specially trained police officers jumped from a helicopter into icy, fast-moving water. They swam to the victims and carried...

Watch the telling of dramatic real-life stories from across the globe, using footage captured by the rescuers themselves; this series puts viewers in the center of the action for every heart-stopping twist and turn as they witness life-saving feats in real time.

Looks at how search and rescue teams prepare to search for lost people or help those whose lives are in danger.

The elite Combat Rescue members of the U.S. Air Force, Pararescuemen, or PJs, have one mission: rescue American or Allied forces in extreme danger. Whether their targets are shot down or isolated behind enemy lines, engaged, wounded, or captured by the enemy, PJs will do whatever necessary to bring those in peril home. For the first time ever, camera crews go on a deployment to Afghanistan with this team, as they fly day and night, in any weather,...

When Flight 1421 crashes into the ocean six minutes after take-off, the surviving passengers believe they are the lucky ones until the plane starts to sink to the ocean floor, trapping them inside, and they must wait to be rescued as both air and time run out. Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the Pacific Ocean. The plane sinks to the bottom with twelve passengers trapped inside. More than two hundred feet below the surface, engineer...

In December 2014, a fire broke out in a house in Baldwin County, Georgia. A woman who was trapped inside managed to call 911. However, the smoke was so thick that she was unable to speak. Deputy Josh Mays responded to the call. When he arrived at the scene, flames were pouring out of the house. He ran inside the burning home and spotted the victim on the floor in the kitchen. Then, suddenly, the roof began to collapse. Would the deputy be able to...

In 1944 the OSS set out to recover more than 500 airmen trapped and sheltered for months by villagers behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia. Classified for over half a century for political reasons, the full account of Operation Halyard, a story of loyalty, self-sacrifice, and bravery, is now being told for the first time.--From publisher description.

"Now in her mid-thirties, Loewen has become a wife, a mother, and a leader of Seattle Mountain Rescue (SMR), a volunteer-based search-and-rescue operation. She no longer struggles with the respect of co-workers--she has it in spades--nor crippling self-doubt--overcome after hundreds of rescues. But she does still ponder the question of why she continues to head into the backcountry, confronting danger, risk, and, often, death. SMR is involved in everything...

Fundamentals of Mantracking outlines and describes the principles of renowned tracker--and former Border Patrol agent Ab Taylor's Step-by-Step Method. The rudiments of tracking are explained in a straightforward and entertaining way. Ab's life's work was not necessarily to make everyone an expert tracker -- although with practice this could certainly occur -- but to make everyone aware of the potential of tracking, especially when finding someone...

Retired airman, Travis Lane, joins a company that provides protection for clients worldwide. It's trial by fire when his first mission takes him to the Democratic Republic of Congo to find and retrieve a kidnapped American in the middle of a densely forested jungle.