By SANDRA FAHNING

Special to The Gazette

Unless one is fascinated by a nonfiction book’s subject matter, it’s for sure that most books of the genre won’t be labeled “a real page turner” or reviewed as a “you won’t want to put this book down.”

It’s interesting to find then, with author Emilio Corsetti III’s book, “35 Miles From Shore” (Odyssey Publishing, LLC; $14.95 PB) a real page turner is exactly what you have. It is a well-written and researched book.

This is the detailed story about the ditching and rescue of ALM Flight 980. Fifty-seven passengers and six crew members were aboard the flight that departed from New York’s JFK international airport May 2, 1970.

Their destination was St. Maarten, but when the plane ran out of fuel and was forced to ditch in turbulent Caribbean waters, 23 people perished.

Corsetti writes with startling clarity of the events leading up to the ditching of the DC-9 airplane, the actual ditching, the rescue efforts and then the post-flight investigation. Because the author interviewed individuals who survived the crash, when the airplane goes down, readers are seeing and hearing everything that’s happening.

When the DC-9 hits the water, readers will feel the impact. And when survivors grow cold in the ocean, readers will feel the chill; such is the power of Corsetti’s words.

The following is a short excerpt from the chapter dealing with the pilot, Capt. Balsey D. DeWitt’s, ditching of the airplane: “The flaps were the first part of the aircraft to come in contact with the water. The left flap caught a swell and the plane yawed slightly to the left. To Balsey the sensation was similar to how it feels to push away from shore in a canoe, only in reverse. Next, the fuselage slammed down hard against the water. The sudden deceleration threw Balsey forward in his seat. Fortunately, the inertial reel of his shoulder harness worked as designed and prevented him from flying face first into the yoke or the glare shield. Behind him, Balsey could hear galley equipment crashing to the floor and one or two thumps against the cockpit door.”

Readers will probably be surprised when they read of the many malfunctions of the airplane’s emergency equipment, such as life rafts and vests, not to mention the passengers who didn’t bother to fasten their seatbelts.

The Coast Guard, Navy and Marines all were involved in rescuing the survivors during less than favorable weather conditions. This was, and still is, the only open-water ditching of a commercial jet.

The author, a former resident of Medina, is a professional pilot and author. His work has appeared in both regional and national publications including the Chicago Tribune, Multimedia Producer and Professional Pilot magazine. He is a graduate of St. Louis University. This is his first book.

Corsetti will give a free slideshow presentation in conjunction with his book at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 30 at the Medina Library, 210 S. Broadway.

Fahning may be reached at accent@ohio.net.