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A plane crash survivor鈥檚 search for answers

In 1979 a plane carrying 11-year-old Norman Ollestad crashed into the California mountains. The sole survivor, he returns to the crash site 27 years on and makes a discovery.

When a plane carrying 11-year-old Norman Ollestad, his father and his father鈥檚 girlfriend got caught in a snowstorm and crashed into the remote California mountains in 1979, Norman was the only survivor. Stranded on the edge of a cliff, the boy relied on the skills his father had taught him throughout his childhood to make it down the treacherous mountain to safety. In this episode Norman decides to return to the crash site 27 years later and while there, makes an extraordinary discovery.

Part 1 of this story is available on the Outlook website, it is called 'I was the sole survivor of a plane crash'.

Norman Ollestad鈥檚 memoir is called Crazy For the Storm. He has also written a short story called Formentera about the fraying relationship of a married couple.

The archive you heard comes courtesy of CBS.

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

Presenter: Mariana Des Forges
Producer: Mariana Des Forges

Picture: Norman Ollestad
Credit: Courtesy of Norman Ollestad

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Sun 9 May 2021 22:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 8 May 2021 08:32GMT
  • Sat 8 May 2021 17:32GMT
  • Sun 9 May 2021 08:32GMT
  • Sun 9 May 2021 22:32GMT

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Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

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