A crewman of the Enterprise scrambles to help the pilot of a burning F6F Hellcat which crashed on the flight deck during operations around Makin Island. Flying on and off the heaving carrier decks was hazardous under the best of circumstances. One miscalculation could send the plane hurtling into the crash barrier at the end of the deck or over the side. The process was also dangers for the deck crews, known as 'deck apes', who were exposed to everything from crash landings and spinning props to loose bombs.
