With the disappearance of Malaysia Air Flight 370 and the capsizing of the Seoul ferry top of mind, Admiral Thad Allen (Ret.), former commandant of the US Coast Guard and national incident commander for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, talks about the overwhelming odds and occasional miracles he has seen and encountered in decades of disaster rescue and recovery. How can we better prevent man-made tragedies and reduce the casualties from natural disasters? What kinds of successes and improvements are there? What happens when international interests and assets don’t align in disaster-scene investigation? Thad Allen, Derek Thompson