Expected To Arrive On Top Of The World Within A Day

ANN REALTIME REPORTING 04.09.07 1515 EDT: Aero-News has learned Polar First helicopter pilots Jennifer Murray and Colin Bodill are due to reach the North Pole in the next 24 hours, nearly a week ahead of schedule. This marks the final stage in their attempt to set a new world record for flying around the world via the South and North Poles.

As Aero-News reported, this is the pilots' second attempt to set this record. Their first attempt in 2003 ending in near disaster when, 58 days into their journey and two days after reaching the South Pole, they crashed in whiteout conditions on the Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica. Both pilots sustained serious injuries.

Many might have called it a day after such an experience... but Jennifer, 66 years old, and Colin, 55 years old, were determined to re-attempt the challenge.

"The weather is looking very good for this part of our record attempt -- much better than we expected -- and as a result, we're hoping to get to the North Pole ahead of schedule," Murray said in a recent phone conversation from Resolute Bay, Nunuvut. "We're in the extreme northern latitudes where, as in Antarctica, the weather here can change very quickly. We need to make the most of any good weather we get and push on."

When they reach the North Pole, Murray and Bodill will have completed nearly 27,000 nautical miles of their 169 day journey. They have just under 8,500 miles to go before landing back at Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth, TX... where they started the attempt on December 5, 2006. They are due to land in Fort Worth on May 23.

FMI: www.polarfirst.com