Explorers or Boys Messing About?
Explorers, or boys messing about? Either way, taxpayer gets rescue bill
Helicopter duo plucked from life-raft after
Antarctic crash
Their last expedition ended in farce when the Russians threatened to send in military planes to intercept them as they tried to cross into Siberia via the icebound Bering
Strait.
Yesterday a new adventure undertaken by British explorers Steve Brooks and Quentin Smith almost led to tragedy when their helicopter plunged into the sea off
Antarctica.
The men were plucked from the icy waters by a Chilean naval ship after a nine-hour rescue which began when Mr
Brooks contacted his wife, Jo Vestey, on his satellite phone asking for assistance. The rescue involved the
Royal Navy, the RAF and British Coastguards.
Last night there was resentment in some quarters that the men’s adventure had cost the taxpayers of Britain and
Chile tens of thousands of pounds.
Experts questioned the wisdom of taking a small helicopter – the four-seater Robinson R44 has a single engine – into such a hostile environment.
There was also confusion about what exactly the men were trying to achieve. A website set up to promote the
Bering Strait expedition claims the team were trying to fly from North to South Pole in their “trusty helicopter”.
But Ms Vestey claimed she did not know what the pair were up to, describing them as “boys messing around with a helicopter”.
The drama began at around 1am British time when Mr
Brooks, 42, and 40-year-old Mr Smith, also known as Q, ditched into the sea 100 miles off Antarctica, about 36 miles off Smith Island, and scrambled into their life-raft.
Mr Brooks called his wife in London on his satellite phone.
She said: “He said they were both in the life-raft but were okay and could I call the emergency people.”
Meanwhile, distress signals were being beamed from the ditched helicopter and from Mr Brooks’ Breitling emergency watch, a wedding present.
Comment [s1]: Contrasted to ridicule the men as they aren’t successful
“explorers”
Helicopter duo plucked from life-raft after
Antarctic crash
Their last expedition ended in farce when the Russians threatened to send in military planes to intercept them as they tried to cross into Siberia via the icebound Bering
Strait.
Yesterday a new adventure undertaken by British explorers Steve Brooks and Quentin Smith almost led to tragedy when their helicopter plunged into the sea off
Antarctica.
The men were plucked from the icy waters by a Chilean naval ship after a nine-hour rescue which began when Mr
Brooks contacted his wife, Jo Vestey, on his satellite phone asking for assistance. The rescue involved the
Royal Navy, the RAF and British Coastguards.
Last night there was resentment in some quarters that the men’s adventure had cost the taxpayers of Britain and
Chile tens of thousands of pounds.
Experts questioned the wisdom of taking a small helicopter – the four-seater Robinson R44 has a single engine – into such a hostile environment.
There was also confusion about what exactly the men were trying to achieve. A website set up to promote the
Bering Strait expedition claims the team were trying to fly from North to South Pole in their “trusty helicopter”.
But Ms Vestey claimed she did not know what the pair were up to, describing them as “boys messing around with a helicopter”.
The drama began at around 1am British time when Mr
Brooks, 42, and 40-year-old Mr Smith, also known as Q, ditched into the sea 100 miles off Antarctica, about 36 miles off Smith Island, and scrambled into their life-raft.
Mr Brooks called his wife in London on his satellite phone.
She said: “He said they were both in the life-raft but were okay and could I call the emergency people.”
Meanwhile, distress signals were being beamed from the ditched helicopter and from Mr Brooks’ Breitling emergency watch, a wedding present.
Comment [s1]: Contrasted to ridicule the men as they aren’t successful
“explorers”