Question

Find examples of different tenses in the story. Explain their usage.
On that windy autumn day, Greg Gibson, a member of the helicopter rescue unit with the US coastguard, had just started his shift. He was drinking a steaming hot cup of coffee when a distress call came in.
A freighter with a crew of 26 onboard had run aground in the Bering Sea. Two helicopters including Greg's and a coastguard boat started a rescue operation to save the crew of the sinking ship. The sea was rough and strong gusts of wind rocked the helicopters, but despite the terrible weather, the rescue mission was going like clockwork and 18 people were quickly airlifted to safety. The helicopters refuelled and went back to pick up the final crew members, but just as the second chopper was ready to return something awful happened.
A gigantic wave hit the ship and sent a huge wall of water up into the air. Greg and the other rescue workers watched in horror as it swallowed the helicopter and sent it crashing into the sea. Greg leapt into action instantly. "Quick! Let's get them out of here!", he yelled. Hovering 150 feet above the water, Greg lowered the rescue basket with such accuracy that he was able to collect the survivors from the stormy sea without wasting a single second.
After an exhausting few hours, everyone was safe and sound and recovering in hospital. "I'm glad that's over," Greg said and he and his crew were relieved that they were all back on dry land and their friends and co-workers were alive. A few months later, Greg was awarded a gold medal in recognition of his skilful and brave performance under pressure.

Answer 1

simple present: I'm (direct speech)
(настоящее простое: Я (прямая речь)
simple past: came in; started; was; rocked; refueled; went back; happened; hit; sent; watched; swallowed; sent; leapt; yelled; lowered; was able; said; were
(прошедшее простое: вошел, начал, был, качал, дозаправлялся, вернулся, случилось, сбил, отправил, смотрел, проглотил, отправил, прыгнул, крикнул, снизился, был, мог, сказал, был)
simple past (passive): were airlifted; was awarded
(прошедшее простое (пассив): был перевезен по воздуху, был награжден)
past continuous: was drinking; was going; (was) recovering)
(прошедшее длительное: пил, шел, восстанавливался)
past perfect: had just started; had run aground
(прошедшее завершенное: только начался, сел на мель)

Simple present is used here to describe Greg's feelings and emotions.
(Простое настоящее используется здесь для описания чувств и эмоций Грега)
Simple past is used for events that happened once in the past of the story.
(Простое прошедшее используется для событий, которые случились однажды в прошлом в истории)
Past continuous is used for an action that was interrupted by another action or to emphasize the duration of an action.
(Прошедшее длительное используется для действия, которое было прервано другим действием или для того, чтобы выразить продолжительность действия)
Past perfect is used to for a past action that happened before another past action or before a stated time in the past.
(Прошедшее завершенное используется для прошлого действия, которое случилось до другого действия в прошлом или до указанного времени в прошлом)