Two men who crash-landed their plane in freezing waters survived 18 hours on a tiny sheet of ice “huddled together like penguins”.
The two – one Australian and the other Swedish – endured temperatures of -20C (-4F) after their Cessna plane ran into trouble over the far north of Canada.
Their survival equipment sank with the plane and rescue aircraft responding to their Mayday call failed to find them.
Australian Oliver Edwards-Neil, 25, and his Swedish flying partner Troels Hansen, 45, had been flying a Cessna Skymaster from the US to Sweden when both its engines failed over the Hudson Strait, just south of the Arctic Circle.
As the cockpit quickly filled with freezing water, they managed to scramble through a window and on to an ice sheet about 5m wide and 10m long before the plane sank, with all their equipment on board.
Mr Edwards-Neil said that their survival suits saved their lives. “But I never thought I could freeze that much. I was shivering non-stop,” he said.
They were found by a fishing boat that had heard their Mayday call and headed to the scene.
Mr Edwards-Neil and Mr Hansen were later transferred by helicopter to a hospital in Iqaluit, Nunavut.
The photo tells the whole tale. A couple of very fortunate guys.
Wish this had more details like whether or not they actually got “wet.” If they did, seems like they would have never survived.
Unless you are paranoid, I can’t see wearing a survival suit WHILE flying the airplane, so how did they lose all their survival gear and still have the life saving suits?
More detailed article anywhere? I love stories of aircraft survival stories==but I always think of tropical islands with or without dinosaurs.
I always think of the stories that do not make the news i.e. the ones who did not have time to get their survival suits on and are dead, and the ones who had a few more seconds to get salvage more rescue equipment, are saved and don’t make the world news networks.
s/get salvage/salvage/
Flying a light plane across the North Atlantic, wearing your survival suit is recommended.
#4, moss,
very true.
And these two were very lucky. The Canadian Arctic is a pretty big place.
If it had been summer, there may not have been an ice flow to sit on.
Skymaster is a good plane. Duel engine pusher/puller config. Wonder how it failed. Carburetor icing? Weird.
#7 – Paddy-SKY-KING
>>Skymaster is a good plane.
You know, the toy models with the remote control they sell at Radio Shack my not be a perfectly faithful representation of the real plane.
Gotta be a fuel issue, perhaps as in not enough. Carb heat would have been applied with first sign of failure.
RBG
A very reliable airplane, 337 equipped with IO-360C engines (injected, opposed). Carb heat does not apply, but fuel icing can still be a problem at altitude without the proper additives. Most likely it was a fuel contamination problem, as anyone crazy enough to fly overseas in freezing temps will budget enough gas plus reqd. reserves.
If these two were wearing their survival suits before take-off – well done them. If they were not, then they were foolish and fortunate.
I have watched crews and pax in light aircraft in the North arrive wearing their street clothes with their suitcases burying the (if any) survival gear. I suppose they’ll rely on their cellphones….
I wonder what thoughts go through your head as you watch your survival gear sink with the aircraft?
If I were flying a rescue aircraft and spotted survivors on a flow who were not wearing survival gear I could return home leaving them to the bears with a perfectly clear conscience.