The Worst Day: A Plane Crash, A Train Wreck, and Remarkable Acts of Heroism in Washington, DC

A REAL-LIFE DISASTER MOVIE: A minute-by-minute account of 2 simultaneous catastrophes during a 1982 blizzard—and the extraordinary courage of civilians and first responders

For fans of Deep Survival and Adam Higginbotham’s Midnight in Chernobyl and Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space

Dedicated to first responders and every person who steps up to act when it matters…

More than 40 years before a Black Hawk helicopter collided mid-air with American Airlines Flight 5342 over the Potomac River, a desperate race against time took place nearby in overwhelming conditions.

Washington, DC, was in the grips of a historic snowstorm on January 13, 1982 that gridlocked the city when Air Florida 90 crashes into a bridge jammed with traffic and plunges into the iced-over Potomac River.

6 people survive the crash, clinging to wreckage in the icy river as a Park Police helicopter risks a daring rescue in nearly whiteout conditions. As the rescue is taking place, DC’s Metro system suffers its first fatal derailment nearby, with dozens injured.

In this page-turning drama, journalist and former firefighter/EMT Bruce Goldfarb recreates the harrowing struggles for survival and acts of incredible courage. Told through the eyes of survivors, firefighters, police, and bystanders, many of whom have never before shared their stories, Goldfarb explores the day’s impact on these participants as well as on the resulting aviation and transit safety measures that have protected us over the decades.

A former firefighter/EMT, Bruce Goldfarb is an award-winning journalist who lives in Baltimore, MD. Goldfarb's work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, USA Today, Baltimore magazine, American Archaeology, American Health and many other publications. For 10 years, Goldfarb served as executive assistant to the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Maryland. He was public information officer for the OCME and curator of the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death. His first book of popular nonfiction, 18 Tiny Deaths, was published in 2020 by Sourcebooks. In 2023 Steerforth Press published his next book OCME: Life in America's Top Forensic Medical Center.