MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAY...! My words choked to a standstill. Visibility in the Shakleton cockpit was reduced to mere inches.

I slammed the control column hard forward.... A one or two-second delay in my response would have had the Nimrod spectacularly crash back onto the airfield.

These and other airborne emergencies are vividly described in the memoirs of a Royal Air Force pilot who also amassed 18,000 hours as a civilian captain of Boeing jet aircraft. Humour, tragedy, and lucky escapes go hand in hand throughout this book touching on many diverse and interesting topics.