Adventurer stranded in Antarctica

[iGav]

Heheh, serves him right.... what a tw@t!

love this quote...

"And we can make arrangements to ship his plane out at his cost," Mr Sanson said."

heheheheheh!


rinky dink link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3306443.stm


or full story below....

The first person to fly a home-built single-engine plane over the South Pole has got stranded in Antarctica.

Australian Jon Johanson was forced to land his RV-4 plane at a US base when it ran short of fuel.

But both the Americans and a nearby New Zealand base refuse to give him the fuel, saying they do not want to encourage tourism in the Antarctic.

Mr Johanson flew over the South Pole after travelling 5,880 km in just over 24 hours from New Zealand.

The US actually don't run a gas station in Antarctica... and nor does New Zealand
Lou Sanson, Antarctica New Zealand CEO

The adventurer had planned to continue to Argentina, but strong headwinds ate into his fuel reserves.

This forced Mr Johanson to land on Tuesday at the US McMurdo base, just a few kilometres from New Zealand's Scott base, to ask for more fuel.

But both bases refused to provide him with the required 400 litres (104 gallons) to return to New Zealand.

"The US actually don't run a gas station in Antarctica... and nor does New Zealand," Antarctica New Zealand Chief Executive Lou Sanson told the Associated Press news agency.

He is stuck there
Mr Johanson's partner, Sue Ball

"He appears to have gone in there without a search and rescue plan and without a contingency plan if things go wrong, and he's expecting the New Zealand and United States Governments to pick up and be his contingency," Mr Sanson added.

He said the Americans provided Mr Johanson with food and shelter and that New Zealanders had offered to fly him home "on the first available flight".

"And we can make arrangements to ship his plane out at his cost," Mr Sanson said.

But Mr Johanson partner, Sue Ball, said he was reluctant to leave his plane, in which he had previously flown around the world three times, including over the North Pole.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

that's priceless....and good for the Americans and New Zealanders! The fact that this guy didn't have any contingency or rescue plans is just plain stupid.

D

 

[spinner]

he was apparently counting on penguins for search and rescue

 

[jxyama]

US or NZ should offer him the gas at cost - including the storage cost, shipping cost (probably very large), the actual cost of the gas, etc., etc.

it ain't trivial getting that stuff to antarctica...

what an idiot. if he's a true adventurer, he should adventure out on his own from antarctica too!

 

[rainman::|:|]

what a putz...

 

[idkew]

i am glad these governments would not give him fuel. that is out final frontier, and there is already too much tourism there. i hope he has to pay a ton for his plane.

 

[Wardofsky]

So far the response here has been negative towards the explorer, which is fine in allways, but there has been much more outrage in Australia because so far Aus has thought been "good friends" with NZ and the US other than military allies.

In other words plane goes down, mates don't help, what are you going to do...
Having no plan is stupid and obviously an error in his adventure.

People just though the base would help out a little, no hard feelings, don't do it again, but that didn't happen...

Oh well, I do wonder, if he freezes to death will they ship the body on his expense?

 

[iGav]

Originally posted by Wardofsky
Oh well, I do wonder, if he freezes to death will they ship the body on his expense?

errrr... the Americans have given him food and shelter (as the fool probably didn't think about packing that either. ) and the New Zealanders have offered to fly him home, that's most generous considering it's really not that cheap to fly to and from.

It's not down to a 'friendship' between countries, it's about trying to dissuade people from doing something as stupid as this guy, without making proper contingency and rescue plans.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

igav: exactly.

Now imagine if the head winds had been even worse and he had to dump his plane down on the icesheet. He'd have to radio the Americans or NZers to come pick him up? That's just not smart, period.

I think in some states here in the US, if you require search and rescue to come and get out of the side of a mountain, for example, you pay for it.

Considering your life is in the balance, a $100,000 or so isn't all that much.

D

 

[wdlove]

Originally posted by Mr. Anderson
igav: exactly.

Now imagine if the head winds had been even worse and he had to dump his plane down on the icesheet. He'd have to radio the Americans or NZers to come pick him up? That's just not smart, period.

I think in some states here in the US, if you require search and rescue to come and get out of the side of a mountain, for example, you pay for it.

Considering your life is in the balance, a $100,000 or so isn't all that much.

D

That suprises me that a state would charge for a rescue Mr. Anderson. I thought that search and rescue was part of being a citizen.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

not when idiots get stuck. Extreme sports are popular, and lots of people think they know what they're doing when they don't have a clue.

So to prevent stupidity in general, the states have been requiring payment for rescue at certain locations. And you're told of this before you go.

D

 

[wdlove]

Originally posted by Mr. Anderson
not when idiots get stuck. Extreme sports are popular, and lots of people think they know what they're doing when they don't have a clue.

So to prevent stupidity in general, the states have been requiring payment for rescue at certain locations. And you're told of this before you go.

D

That would sound Ok to me in that instance Mr. Anderson. If they tell you ahead of time that you will be charged, then it is OK. My thought is that if it is trully an accident there should be no charge. Such as a fall.

 

[radhak]

Originally posted by Mr. Anderson
not when idiots get stuck. Extreme sports are popular, and lots of people think they know what they're doing when they don't have a clue.

So to prevent stupidity in general, the states have been requiring payment for rescue at certain locations. And you're told of this before you go.

D

i agree. couple of years ago we were at the Grand Canyon as a group, and a couple hot-heads wanted to show off to the girls by going down the canyon, where it could get pretty hot and dangerous, particularly for unplanned treks. we (rest of the group) were unable to dissuade them, but then we saw this sign which said that every rescue would be fully charged to the rescuees. don't remember if the approx $ figure was written or verbally mentioned, but it definitely served the purpose, and we enjoyed our vacation as planned...

 

[Wardofsky]

See basically this page has shown both sides of the argument going on, we just want him out of there, they obviously want him gone as well.
The sooner it's over the better.

 

[MrMacMan]

He is just incredibly dumb....

What a idiot!

 

[IJ Reilly]

I can't believe all of you people are being so tough on this guy. I suppose if Lindbergh had vanished over Greenland, he'd have been branded an "idiot" too. After all, he didn't have a "rescue plan" (whatever that is). Have you completely lost respect for people who attempt difficult feats?

Let me tell you, anybody who can fly an RV-4 around the world three times, including over the North Pole has more clues then most of you put together, and probably ten times more guts.

 

[bousozoku]

Originally posted by IJ Reilly
I can't believe all of you people are being so tough on this guy. I suppose if Lindbergh had vanished over Greenland, he'd have been branded an "idiot" too. After all, he didn't have a "rescue plan" (whatever that is). Have you completely lost respect for people who attempt difficult feats?

Let me tell you, anybody who can fly an RV-4 around the world three times, including over the North Pole has more clues then most of you put together, and probably ten times more guts.

He has guts; he has no clue.

Do you travel thousands of kilometres without a backup plan?

Since he's traveled around the world three times, you'd think he'd have a satellite-capable phone and he'd call his mates and they'd go rescue him. Good thing he didn't have to be to work on Monday.

If Charles Lindbergh had landed in Greenland, we'd have thought him an idiot too. If he'd vanished, we'd thought that he was Amelia Earheart.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Originally posted by bousozoku
He has guts; he has no clue.

Do you travel thousands of kilometres without a backup plan?

Since he's traveled around the world three times, you'd think he'd have a satellite-capable phone and he'd call his mates and they'd go rescue him. Good thing he didn't have to be to work on Monday.

If Charles Lindbergh had landed in Greenland, we'd have thought him an idiot too. If he'd vanished, we'd thought that he was Amelia Earheart.

Not so. Do you think Lindbergh had a "backup plan?" No, he did not. It was a wing and a prayer, with emphasis on the prayer.

This guy didn't remain in Antarctica for lack of a satellite phone, he remained in Antarctica for lack of fuel for the wind conditions he unexpectedly encountered. Now, not having a clue would have been taking off for the over-water flight without sufficient fuel. You might be surprised how often that happens.

All of these people are at least a little bit crackers -- if they had the same perception of risk as average people, they'd never try the things that amaze us when they succeed. It takes someone with the desire to be the first.

 

[bousozoku]

Originally posted by IJ Reilly
Not so. Do you think Lindbergh had a "backup plan?" No, he did not. It was a wing and a prayer, with emphasis on the prayer.

This guy didn't remain in Antarctica for lack of a satellite phone, he remained in Antarctica for lack of fuel for the wind conditions he unexpectedly encountered. Now, not having a clue would have been taking off for the over-water flight without sufficient fuel. You might be surprised how often that happens.

All of these people are at least a little bit crackers -- if they had the same perception of risk as average people, they'd never try the things that amaze us when they succeed. It takes someone with the desire to be the first.

If it happens so often, it couldn't be unexpectedly encountered.

 

[Sun Baked]

Originally posted by Mr. Anderson
not when idiots get stuck. Extreme sports are popular, and lots of people think they know what they're doing when they don't have a clue.

So to prevent stupidity in general, the states have been requiring payment for rescue at certain locations. And you're told of this before you go.

D

Arizona instituted a "stupid motorist law" for anybody that needed to be rescued from washes and creekbeds when they decided to drive through them when there was water.

Interesting to see how many people fail to look and the depth markers on the roads, underpasses, etc. so marked -- or drive around police barricades for closed roads. aka "stupid motorists"

Then there started to be too many hikers, rock climbers, and cross country cyclers getting stuck and/or injured in parks -- they now end up having to pay also.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Originally posted by bousozoku
If it happens so often, it couldn't be unexpectedly encountered.

Huh? Not sure what you mean exactly, but flight planning takes winds aloft into account -- but that doesn't mean they can't change unexpectedly.

What surprises me about this story is that the US and New Zealanders on Antarctica were so willing to disassemble, crate and ship this man's airplane back to Australia at his expense, but not to provide him with a 100 gallons of avgas at his expense, which obviously would have been much simpler.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Originally posted by Sun Baked
Arizona instituted a "stupid motorist law" for anybody that needed to be rescued from washes and creekbeds when they decided to drive through them when there was water.

Interesting to see how many people fail to look and the depth markers on the roads, underpasses, etc. so marked -- or drive around police barricades for closed roads. aka "stupid motorists"

Then there started to be too many hikers, rock climbers, and cross country cyclers getting stuck and/or injured in parks -- they now end up having to pay also.

This is obviously a very imperfect analogy. The pilot did not get stuck or injured -- he landed at a US air base in good order, but in need of fuel. He was not asking to be rescued at anyone else's expense.