Russian
pilot Sergey Ananov attempted to set a world record last summer by
flying around the world solo in his 800-pound R-22 helicopter. He almost
did it, too, but just 3,000 miles from home, his craft failed and
dropped him into the sea between Greenland and Nunavut. With the sinking
helicopter went his communication devices and most of his survival
equipment. All he had was a life raft and his soaking-wet survival suit.
Sergey Ananov is trapped on a slab of ice in the
Arctic Circle. He has no locator beacon, no phone, and barely any water.
The fog will hide him from any rescuers. Night will come. Hypothermia
will come. And whatever large, powerful creatures that scratch out their
existence in this primordial world—maybe they will come too.
His
eyes wander past the ice and over the roiling open waters of Davis
Strait. He is alone, and with each minute that passes he will drift
farther from the spot where the helicopter went down, lessening the
chance he will ever be found.
Those who were tracking
Ananov’s flight knew he went down, but finding someone in the Arctic
waters would not be easy, especially at night. He
was found
almost immediately -by a polar bear. The story of Sergey Ananov’s
survival is supposed to be a “long read,” but once you start, you won’t
be able to stop and it won’t seem long at all.
Read the entire account at Popular Mechanics
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