I was asked to inform you that the weather break we have will last close to five hours.” A voice on the phone said to Frank Wilcox as he sat at his desk.“Thank God, and thank you as well Barnes.” Wilcox spoke, hung up and dialed the number to the alert shack.“Captain Zlotkowski.” “Zee, Frank Wilcox here, it’s an immediate go. But, Zee, you only have about a five hour window to reach the site and return.”“With our flight time that will leave us enough time to do a good search Colonel.”Wilcox was quiet for a moment and then said, “Zee, if the weather starts to turn bad you're to abort the mission. Do you understand me?”Zlotkowski immediately replied, “Roger that, Colonel Wilcox. I think we’ll be okay with a five hour window, and I’ll not risk the safety of my crew sir.”As Colonel Frank Wilcox hung up the phone, he wondered if his order to abort with bad weather just signed death certificates for Jim and David Wade, but he knew he had to think of the safety of his aircrews first.
