Colin Bodill and Jennifer Murray Safe, But Injured
Two British record
setters with an extensive pedigree of aviation accomplishments have
survived a hairy Antarctic crash in their Bell 407.
The heli-duo made it to the South Pole, this week, as part of
their Polar First record flight on the 100th anniversary of the
Wright Brothers First Powered Flight. They had reportedly just
departed on the next leg of their challenge when the Bell 407 went
down in what was reported as "bad weather."
The Polar First Challenge 2003 lifted off from New York on
October 22nd, 2003. Its aim was to break the Pole to Pole record
and raise awareness and funds for the conservation organization
WWF. Last Saturday, Jennifer mixed record business with pleasure
when she met her businessman husband Simon Murray, who is bidding
to become the oldest man to walk 850 miles overland to the South
Pole unsupported. He is accompanied on his trip by Arctic explorer
Pen Hadow.
After being rescued
from the remote Antarctic crash site, Murray and Bodill are now in
the hospital in the Chilean city of Punta Arenas following a
17-hour rescue mission to retrieve them.
Both pilots were taken straight to hospital when they landed in
Punta Arenas at Saturday night (14:50 local time). Colin Bodill
sustained injuries typical of those received in high-impact
crashes. He is undergoing a thorough medical assessment but is
lucid, conscious and stable. Jennifer Murray has dislocated an
elbow, not broken her arm (as was first feared).
Despite his injuries, it has been reported that Colin braved the
bitter cold to get Jennifer out of the helicopter following the
accident and put her into a sleeping bag. He then erected a tent
for shelter and lit a stove for warmth before collapsing because of
his injuries.
The duo were picked up in a Twin Otter aircraft around
three-and-a-half hours after the accident by the Antarctic
Logistics and Expeditions rescue team before being taken back to
the team’s Patriot Hills base camp. Jennifer and Colin waited
at Patriot Hills for the rescue team’s Ilyushin 76 TD
aircraft to make the five-hour trip from Punta Arenas and transport
the pilots back to the Chilean city’s hospital.
The plane touched down on the Patriot Hills "blue ice" landing
strip at 09:49am local time and returned within an hour to
transport the pilots on the last leg of their 17-hour ordeal,
accompanied by a doctor, to Punta Arenas.
The helicopter accident happened at 10:00pm local time,
Saturday, 120 miles north of Patriot Hills on the northern section
of the Ronne Ice Shelf, as the pilots flew towards South America on
the latest stage of the Polar First Challenge, ending the flight
one-third of the way to completion. The pilots used the
helicopter’s on-board flight-tracking equipment and a
satellite phone to alert the rescue team at Patriot Hills after the
aircraft went down.
Jennifer Murray, who set the world record for the fastest female
solo helicopter flight around the world in 2000, together with
co-pilot Colin Bodill, flew down the east coast of the US, through
Central and Southern America, down to the South Pole. They were in
the process of starting their journey up to the North Pole via the
west coast of the Americas and Canada, with a view to ending up in
New York in mid-April 2004, when the accident happened. Jennifer
and Colin planned to make over 160 stops on the journey to
highlight the work of the WWF, flying scientists to key
conservation sites, undertaking mapping and zoning of uncharted
territory, tracking illegal destruction of natural resources and
following endangered species.
ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.16.24)
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