The opening story of the helo rescue gone bad was loosely based on a real event that occurred August 7, 1981. The crew of CG1471 from Airsta Kodiak was responding to a distress call of a fishing vessel near Prince William Sound. As the crew attempted to hoist the survivors of the boat, a wave hit the tail of CG1471 causing the helo to crash into the seas. A painting named "So Others May Live" hangs on CG Airsta Kodiak depicting the rescue.
The movie uses clips of real incidents supplied to Walt Disney by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency during the training sequences in scenes at the training school.
The Coast Guard A school for rescue swimmers is not at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana, but Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
Chief Flythe, played by Joseph 'Butch' Flythe, who can be seen in various scenes throughout the film, was one of the first five operating rescue swimmers in the Coast Guard, graduating from A school in 1984 and beginning his work at the Elizabeth City base in 1985.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
