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Situation Critical
In some jobs, danger can appear at any moment.
In the blink of an eye, the routine
can become perilous. This month, the National Geographic
Channel shows us what happens when a normal situation
becomes Situation Critical.
The police try to keep citizens safe, but what
happens when the police are in danger? On February 28, 1997, two men
with armor and powerful rifles
robbed a bank in Hollywood, California.
The police's weapons were useless against the
criminals'', but they knew they had to end the Hollywood
Shootout. In Colombia, police tried to arrest Pablo
Escobar, the world's most notorious drug dealer. When
he fought back with assassinations that killed hundreds,
government officials decided their only
option was Killing
Pablo Escobar.
For soldiers and pilots, too, danger is a way of
life. This became a painful truth for American pilot
Scott O'Grady in June 1995 when his jet was shot down
over Bosnia. O'Grady was able to eject, but he had to
avoid the enemy for days as a Downed Pilot. British SAS
troops also found themselves
in harm's way in
Sierra Leone in 2000. There, they planned to
recover
11 British soldiers who were
being held hostage in a daring SAS
Jungle Rescue.
Of course, combat isn't the only way to experience
danger. The astronauts of Apollo 13 learned this when an
explosion
struck their spacecraft. Low on resources, the
astronauts and engineers on the ground had to act
quickly to save Apollo 13. Back on Earth, the Sydney to
Hobart yacht race turned deadly in 1998, with dozens of
boats forced to quit and six men lost at sea. That year,
the challenging competition turned into Hell on High
Water.
There are situations where our decisions can make
the difference between life and death, the outcome is
never certain, and we are left with our hearts pounding.
National Geographic Channel brings us
face to face with
these dangerous conditions on Situation Critical. |
