Memorable rescues

A magnitude 7.0 quake struck Haiti in January 2010, leaving more than 215,000 people dead and a million homeless. Fifteen days after the earthquake hit, French rescuers pulled Darlene Etienne, 17, from the rubble.

Haiti earthquake: A look back a year later   (Ramon Espinosa / Associated Press)

All 150 passengers and five crew members survived their water landing. But investigators said some of the safety and contingency plans for such an event were either ignored or could not be performed in the three minutes of chaos that ensued.

All on US Airways plane are safe -- within 5 minutes of crash landing   (Steven Day / Associated Press)

Steve Forbes carries Baby Jessica, looking weary and dirt-covered but conscious.

Jessica Makes It to Safety--After 58 1/2 Hours  (Eric Gay / Associated Press)

Survivors of a 1972 plane crash in the Andes attend a 2002 memorial in Santiago, Chile, for those who died. The plane’s passengers included members of a Uruguayan rugby team. The men survived the crash high in the frozen Andes by eating the flesh of their deceased comrades.

Spirituality sustains those left ‘Stranded’  (Julio Castro / Associated Press)