Fed: Aussie survives 18 hours on ice after stricken plane sinks
09 Dec 2008 1:33 PM
SYDNEY, Dec 9 AAP - An Australian expat and a colleague scrambled to safety moments before their stricken plane sank in Arctic waters following an emergency landing on "mushy" ice.
Within minutes of Sunday's landing, forced by the failure of the plane's twin engines, the aircraft went through the ice and was swallowed by the ocean.
Australian-born Oliver Edwards, who lives in Sweden, and Swedish citizen Troels Hansen had just enough time to climb out a window before the plane went down.
They took refuge on a more stable ice floe nearby and endured 18 hours, in temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius, before being rescued on Monday.
Fishing boat captain Bo Mortensen told the Canadian Press the men cried with joy when he and his crew plucked them to safety.
"They were crying and all that. They were happy to see the boat," he said.
"They looked good. They were in good shape. They were a little bit frostbitten on the feet, but they were in good shape."
Mortensen and his crew were called on to help after a rescue centre in Halifax received a mayday signal from the aircraft.
He said the crew managed to spot the men waving on the ice.
They had put on their survival suits, but had lost their life raft when the plane disappeared through the ice.
"The plane sank right away when it came down," Mortensen said, recounting the men's ordeal.
"They landed on the ice and the window cracked on the plane and they managed to get out. Just after they got out, the plane sank so fast they couldn't get the life-raft out."
Edwards and Hansen, named by Mortensen, had been flying the Cessna Skymaster from the United States to its new owner Sweden when its twin engines failed.
As soon as the aircraft touched down on the newly-formed "mushy" ice, it immediately began to sink, Denis McGuire, director of the joint rescue co-ordination centre in Halifax, told the Canadian Press.
"It's like skating on a pond. When you stop moving all that weight transfers directly down and then there's problems," he said.
He said the men were picked up south of Baffin Island, 18 hours after the rescue centre received the mayday signal from the plane.
Baffin Island, in the territory of Nunavut, is the largest member of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
The men were later flown to a hospital in Iqaluit, Nunavut for medical checks.
An investigation into the cause of the engine failures is underway.
