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Outlook: I was the sole survivor of a plane crash at the age of 11

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Norman Ollestad as an adult with plane debris on the mountain

27/07/2021 GMT

I was the sole survivor of a plane crash at the age of 11

BBC World Service - Outlook, I was the sole survivor of a plane crash at the age of 11

Stranded on a mountain, a young Norman Ollestad had to find a way to survive alone

In 1979, a small plane carrying 11-year-old Norman Ollestad and three others crashed into a mountainside in California. Norman had to make his way down the mountain alone.

When a plane carrying 11-year-old Norman Ollestad, his father and his father’s girlfriend, got caught in a snowstorm and crashed into the California mountains in 1979, Norman was the only survivor. Stranded on the edge of a cliff, Norman relied on the skills his father had taught him throughout his childhood to make it down the treacherous mountain to safety. 27 years later when Norman was married and had a son, he decided to return to the crash site to find out what really happened - there he made an extraordinary discovery. 

Norman's 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.

Picture: Norman Ollestad
Credit: Courtesy of Norman Ollestad

Presenter: Mariana Des Forges
Producer: Mariana Des Forges

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

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