Aaron tells more of the life at 35,000ft

High flying Aaron of Air New Zealand tells more about his life on modern airliners way up there …

 

I referred to search and rescue yesterday, particularly in view of Paul's round-the-world yachting and professional life at sea. 

New Zealand's Search and Rescue responsibility covers 30 million square kilometres.

Our long-range aircraft are involved in the rescue of dozens of unfortunate sailors each year.

Rescues

However, for many rescues, advanced technology has reduced the need for the involvement of long-distance aircraft.

For example, Paul's very challenging eight days in a liferaft down near the Roaring Forties might well have been quite different had the yacht come equipped with a GPS transmitting 409MHz Beacon.

He spent eight days in really wild seas, surrounded by sharks until he spotted a ship around midnight.

He fired a flare and the container ship Nordlight showing extraordinary skill was able to find and rescue him and his girl crew within about an hour.

Unfortunately, fisherman and sailors of developing island nations don't have the 409MHz Beacon.

I have searched for many hours for Kiribati fishermen, from the Pacific Islands, who simply ran out of fuel!

After 20 years of military service, I finally reached my childhood goal of flying a modern jet for Air NZ.

Near speed of sound

Learning to manage a 300-tonne jet, hurtling along with 300 plus passengers just under the speed of sound, didn't happen without challenges. …
……  Continues on the blogs for my ocean sailing adventure book, Sailing to Purgatory, at SailingToPurgatory.com