31-day ordeal in Canadian north

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33096, 11 December 1972, Page 1

31-day ordeal in Canadian north

GN’.Z.P A.-Reuter—Copyright > YELLOWKNIFE (North-West Territories). December 10.

The lone survivor of an aircraft which crashed a month ago in the frozen Canadian north, while on a mercy flight, described today how his three companions died.

Martin Hartwell, aged 47, a former Luftwaffe pilot, rescued yesterday after a 31-day ordeal, was one of three persons to survive after the ■twin-engine ReechcrafL plane crashed on the night of November 8. I The plane was on a flight [■from Cambridge Bay to ['Yellowknife. II Canadian forces aircraft, (which at one point were I called off the search because it appeared hopeless, spotted the wreckage of the plane ‘just south of Great Bear I Lake, about 500 miles north |of Edmonton. Hartwell was [ standing beside the aircraft. I holding a flare. I Mr Hartwell said that a [British nurse, Miss Judith | Hill, aged 27, died in the crash out her two Eskimo patients survived it —one for [ as long as 23 days. | ESKIMOS DIE One of the patients, a pregnant Eskimo woman I named Neemee Nulliayok. died a few days atter the I crash when labour complicaI tions set in. The other, a 14-year-oid boy, David Kootook, who was believed to have been suffering from appendicitis, lived for 23 days but then suddenly appeared ifo lose strength. Mr Hartwell said that the ‘boy died soon after a plane I passed almost directly overihead but did not spot them, even though they had a fire [burning. The downed aircraft, i owned by Gateway Aviation, Ltd (Edmonton), had been j the object of one of the most

extensive searches in Canadian aviation history. Armed forces spokesmen have said the search has cost

more than slm. The search had been suspended less than three weeks after it started, but was resumed three days later on the orders of the [Minister of Defence (Mr

liames Richardson), the suspension announcement

having created a wave of protest from friends of the missing party and other concerned people. The aircraft was located while checking a transmission from a crash position indicator. The signal was 1 heard by chance on Thursday by an armed forces aircraft on a scheduled flight. The search had not ex- ! tended west to Great Bear Lake until Thursday's chance I signal—a signal which undoubtedly saved Mr Hartswell’s life. I Mr Hartwell, suffering from frostbite, but otherwise in good condition, sat up in !a hospital bed to give a first 1 report of his ordeal to a representative of Gateway 1 Aviation. He was brought to the hosi pita) by a helicopter which landed at the crash scene. ■ The bodies of Miss Hill and • the two Eskimo patients will •be picked up later. • A spokesman for the Yelilowknife Hospital said that IMr Hartwell’s condition was I “excellent” considering his • ordeal. SURVIVAL PACK | The plane — which struck a tree while flying at low altiItude to improve radio recepjtion — was equipped with a • survival pack, including • enough food to last five peri sons for six days. The hospital statement said ■ that Mr Hartwell augmented •the plane’s food supply by • eating lichens, drinking gluicose from the nurse’s medical

fikit, and melting snow for t| drinking water. The Eskimo boy, who had suspected appendicitis, lived i 23 to 25 days. Mr Hartwell ■ told Gateway Aviation’s man t ager at Yellowknife (Mr N s Murphy). / "The boy complained of a 1 hurt back, but apparently was not seriously injured.” ' Mr Murphy said. Mr Hartwell r had described how the boy e ialso chopped wood so that ' 1 they had fires. "The boy went ' I down to the lake to fish. The .day before he died he com | plained of stomach prob- “ lems.” Mr Murphy said. t NOT A RECORD a Mr Hartwell’s 31 days suryivival in the Arctic winter [after an aircrash is by no '-[means a record. Other perh sons have trvived almost '■; two months. In February, 1967. a pilot, 1 Robert Gauchie, aged 39. sur vived 58 days alone near the ■ Arctic Circle. His aircraft 1 went down in the same area. s about 60 miles east of Great s r».. a • kept him alive through bitter weather, and he was able to k eat some of the cargo of fish i- his plane was carrying. i- Another case involved two a Americans whose plane g crashed in March. 1963. in northern British Columbia Ralph Flores, aged 42, and d Helen Klaben. aged 21. surd vived 49 days with virtuallv y no food. An SOS stamped out i-jin the snow attracted a bush il' pilot who rescued them