[Note: This is a (RW) story, I find hard to forget,...which is probably well-known to most of us. Way back, in 1993, it was made into a (gripping) TV-movie, (the movie was, however, not very successful, and, perhaps a bit over-dramatized, but, remarkably effective, I must say)...I recall seeing "Mercy Mission: the Rescue of Flight 771" first time around the time of its release, long before I got interested in Aviation, as a hobby, so, I must admit, when I saw it the first time, frankly, I couldn't have identified, in advance, either the Cessna-188 or the DC-10 (the two planes involved, in this story, whose lives would be intertwined, somewhere over the vast Pacific Ocean, in rain and darkness - the big (and fast) tri-jet trying to save the life of the tiny (and slow) single-prop and its sole pilot, in a desperate measure)...I've since seen the movie a couple of more times, and every time, its ending has overwhelmed me with a (unique) feel-good sensation about what the spirit of Aviation is all about...I often recall a statement made by Joe Sutter, "Father of the 747", in an interview with Air & Space Magazine, "You know things are going to happen...You still should be able to come home...". He was talking of 747's redundant systems, but, the takeaway is, "You still should be able to come home...", which turned out to be the happy ending of this incredible story. I've been meaning to make a post of it, for a long while, collecting bits and pieces, and, being reminded of it whenever I've visited Antarctica X in the SIM (I'll tell why). It's nowhere near perfect, but, here it is, anyway, so, here we go...along with a set of (symbolic) SIM images...hope you enjoy it or/and, at least, the (curious) ensemble of the SIM images below... ]

Jay Prochnow, a retired US Navy pilot, was assigned to deliver a Cessna 188 AgTruck from the United States to Australia. The long trip would be completed in four stages (U.S.(San Francisco) -> Honolulu -> Pago Pago (NSTU) -> Norfolk (YSNF) -> Australia (Sydney)). Jay had also a colleague who was flying another Cessna 188 alongside him. The first two legs were uneventful. On the morning of 20 December, 1978, both pilots took off from Pago Pago (American Samoa - see MAP), but, his colleague crashed his Cessna on take off but was unharmed. It was decided that Jay would proceed (alone) with rest of the delivery flight - tasked to reach Norfolk Island on his own. It should be pointed out, here, those were the days of (basic) ADF navigation especially on such planes (no GPS/FMC/CDU/iPad etc....🙂..., or any such modern navigational devices that would be standard gear these days for such ferry flights). When Prochnow arrived at the region where he believed Norfolk Island was, he was unable to see the island. While he continued searching; he realized his automatic direction finder (ADF) had malfunctioned. He alerted (Auckland) ATC and was forced to declare an emergency. Imagine yourself flying for over 14 hours non-stop over the Pacific Ocean, seeing nothing but the blue ocean around you. You try to contact your destination airport but get no answer. You then begin an "expanding square pattern" search technique hoping to find Norfolk Island. You finally realize that you are lost in the middle of nowhere, on the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, in a little (crop-duster) Cessna single engine plane...precious fuel is burning out, and nightfall is imminent...!

Meanwhile, on the same day, Air New Zealand Flight 103, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, had taken off from Fiji's Nadi International Airport (NFFN), headed for Auckland (NZAA) on a two-hour flight. The flight had 88 passengers on board, and a crew of 3, including Captain Gordon Vette, in command. [Side Note: In the coming years, the same Gordon Vette, would figure prominently, in the investigation of the tragic Air New Zealand Flight 901 (Mt. Erebus Disaster), that would occur just a year later, in November of 1979, in which he would lose his Flight Engineer, Gordon Brooks, of this Flight 103. Gordon Vette would then go on to make significant contributions to the safety of future Antarctic flights.] The rescue planes were far away at Auckland Airport and there were no ships nearby the Cessna. There was only one aircraft, the Flight 103 (DC-10), (equipped with three inertial navigation systems - no modern FMC/CDUs yet...), in the vicinity of it, close enough to help. Capt. Gordon Vette and crew were enlisted by Auckland ATC to help locate the lost Cessna. As neither Prochnow nor the crew of the DC-10 had any real idea of where the Cessna was, the crew had to devise creative ways to find its location. Vette was a navigator, himself, and, furthermore, an Air New Zealand DC-8 First Officer, Malcolm Forsyth, flying off-duty as a passenger, joined them to help, when he heard about the situation.

Vette utilized the (so-called) "aural boxing" technique (that, personally, intrigued me most, in the story). Now, read these fascinating excerpts:

1. Vette contacted Prochnow and asked him to head toward the Sun and to report his magnetic heading. Prochnow pointed the Cessna to magnetic heading 274 degrees as Vette steered his DC-10 toward the Sun and read his magnetic heading as 270 degrees. Next he instructed Prochnow to determine the elevation angle of the Sun above the horizon using his partially outstretched arm and fingers as a sextant. Prochnow established the elevation of the Sun as four fingers as Vette measured the elevation of the Sun as two fingers. Vette thus estimated the Cessna was about 240-250 nm (each finger was slightly more than 2 degrees with each degree worth 60 nm) from the DC-10. He was then able to get within VHF boxing range of Prochnow in 7 or 8 minutes. Prochnow was directed to fly east toward the DC‑10, while the Sun had began to set...
2. (F/E) Brooks knew that by dumping fuel they could produce a vapor trail to make them visible to Prochnow. As the search was getting more and more desperate, they decided to try it. Prochnow did not see the trail (it was behind him?), and darkness was increasing. Vette wanted all the passengers to be involved, so he asked them to look out of the windows. As the light conditions became darker, Prochnow considered ditching in the ocean (that would make his finding and survival near impossible), but Vette continued to encourage him, on radio, not to give up, while the DC-10 crew took recourse to a technique known as "aural boxing" to try to pinpoint the small plane.
3. Vette recognized that the VHF communication link could be exploited to locate the Cessna. He requested that the Cessna orbit as he raced through the VHF range circle which had a radius of about 200 nm. He reasoned that if he marked the points at which he established and lost contact with the Cessna, he could find the location of the Cessna. He knew the diameter of the VHF range circle was 400 nm, so, he flew his DC-10 along specific tracks. He acquired VHF contact from the Cessna at one point and lost VHF contact at another point, at which time he would turn his DC-10 by 90 degrees left and began his aural box pattern. Using appropriate extrapolations of his flown segments within the VHF range circle, Capt. Vette was able to establish the center and the location of the Cessna. Unfortunately, the Cessna, still, could not be found by sight, from the big jet..!
4. A RNZAF Orion (see one screenshots of it) was dispatched to help find the Cessna which had been airborne for 20.5 hours and now had minimum fuel remaining. Continued plotting by the navigators showed that the Cessna was approximately at 30°S, 171°E. Prochnow soon saw a light on the water’s surface, which was actually from an oil rig (see symbolic screenshot, below, of an oil-rig, shown off the NZ coast near Auckland) under tow whose coordinates (31°S, 170° 21’E) were relayed to the DC-10 and, thereby, enabled a rendezvous with the Cessna. This oil-rig happened to be (fortuitously) towed from New Zealand to Singapore, at the very same time. The Cessna was (conclusively) determined to be less than 150 nm from Norfolk and was given a steering direction by Vette of 294° magnetic heading to Norfolk Island (see MAP). Prochnow was able to make it to Norfolk Island with his remaining fuel after being airborne 23 hours and 5 minutes arriving close to midnight 8 hours beyond its ETA. The DC-10 continued on to Auckland where it arrived a few hours later than its scheduled arrival time...

McDonnell Douglas awarded the crew a certificate of commendation for "the highest standards of compassion, judgment and airmanship". In 1980, the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators also awarded Vette the Johnston Memorial Trophy for outstanding air navigation in recognition of his performance in the rescue.

Now, if you've not seen the movie, go watch it on YouTube. It's an hour-and-half of drama, so, instead, after reading the post, you may also just watch the last 10 mins (the climax)...🙂..., which is quite intense and riveting, if you ask me....(factually accurate or not e.g. in the movie, the plane is actually a Boeing 767-200, not a DC-10-30...among many other well-documented inaccuracies...)...

The pictures, below, are self-explanatory. On the SimBrief shot, the (custom) WPT nearest to NZAA (NW of it) is the rendezvous point of the two planes and the oil-rig. The Douglas DC-10-30, Cessna 188 and Lockheed P-3 Orion models are accurate, but, their registrations are not same as the RW counterparts of the event...Hope you enjoy still this (retold) story...(it was fun)...thanks for your interest...(while you're flying the new SIM)...🙂...!!

[Alabeo(C188)/HJG(DC-10-30)/FSKBT(RNZAF-Orion)/Orbx(NZ-AU)/REX]

Edited August 30, 20205 yr by P_7878

A most excellent recreation, sir!  Amazing tale of ingenuity.

Wonderful account of an amazing event. Thanks for giving me much more than I bargained for when I turned on my computer this morning.

John

Mark, John: Thanks....Appreciated the kind words....!!

A well told story and excellent illustration - am searching on YouTube.

2 hours ago, olderndirt said:

....am searching on YouTube

Thanks..!  Hope you found it....I have never watched it on YouTube, but, found one link and skimmed through it now to verify it's indeed the full 1hr:32min version...let me know...if needed...

A few of the curiosities identified (need to check some myself....🙂...), are below, but, the movie, in spite of a bit of extra drama,  does convey the (intended) story-line really well...

1. During the cockpit sequence, the engine needles (EPR, N1, N2) in the central video screens do not move, even though Captain Vette applies full thrust.
2. Air New Zealand Flight 308 (actual flight was 103) is a Boeing 767-200 in all sequences (mostly stock footage from ANZ), except on take-off when it becomes a Boeing 737-200, and at the Auckland Airport apron, where it is a Boeing 737-300/400 of Australian Airlines.
3. The First Officer touches too many random and irrelevant buttons during the flight operations. For example, he sets the autopilot heading or course during the very final approach! [Hmm...what this pretend pilot may sometimes do....too...🙂...]
4. The take-off cockpit sequence was done (obviously) in a flight simulator.
5. Gordon Vette has a cameo role near the end of the movie, as a bystander at Auckland Airport, tapping the back of what some believe to be the real Jay Prochnow.
6. The movie depicts Jay's departure (and his fellow-pilot Frank’s failed departure) as occurring after Christmas Day. (The movie was released before Christmas of 1993.)
7. The only character names that were kept in the movie were Gordon Vette and Jay, whose last name in the movie was changed from Prochnow to Parkins.
8. etc.

Anyway, both Bakula and Loggia are excellent actors (I do recall their acting from earlier days).....So, enjoy...!!

7 hours ago, P_7878 said:

...whose last name in the movie was changed from Prochnow to Parkins.

Possibly to avoid confusion with famous actor Jurgen Prochnow?

Yes, I set my FS2004 to pause to read the story and admire the shots as well as your way to post here. Many thanks for that great work!

Always glad to hear from you, Harald....and a believer, here, of "to-each-his-own"....🙂...

But, who knows one day we might see some version of that Tu-134 in the MSFS sky....🙂...

Wonderful story and screens, as usual!

***Fantastic Read*** Thank You