06 March 2004 23:35
Two helicopters en route to evacuate Russian polar explorers
ST. PETERSBURG. March 6 (Interfax-Northwest) - A giant Mi-26 helicopter carrying rescuers recently took off from
Spitsbergen Island in the Barents Sea to evacuate 12 Russian polar explorers from drifting polar station North Pole
32.
"If the weather allows, the helicopter will land on the ice.
If not, it will hover over the station and will carry out its
Deputy head of the Russian meteorology service Yuri Tsaturov told the press the helicopter took off at 11:02 a.m.
Moscow time. The crew and the rescue team face the task of organizing the evacuation of the explorers and equipment from
the drifting station.
Specialists believe the weather will allow the Mi-8 to land
on the ice, "and if some unexpected situation arises, the
mission without turning off the engine," Tsaturov said.
The first helicopter, an Mi-8, carrying head of the Russian meteorology service Alexander Bedritsky and head of the
rescue operation and State Duma deputy Artur Chilingarov, took off from Spitsbergen at 10 a.m. Moscow time on
Saturday.
"The weather has been good so far, and the forecast gives us hope that the polar explorers will be successfully
evacuated today," the evacuation center told Interfax.
helicopter would be able to take the expedition members away without any problems," the center said.
Tsaturov earlier told Interfax that, as of 11 a.m. on Saturday, the members of the Russian Arctic expedition felt
well.
"The weather at the station's location is good, and our polar explorers have enough supplies of food and
fuel. We plan to bring them back to Spitsbergen by Saturday evening," he said.
The Russian drifting station North Pole 32 began work on
April 25, 2003 after a 12-year break. The previous station
stopped its work in July 1991 when the floe housing the 31st
Specialists estimate that the roundtrip flight from Spitsbergen to the polar station could take about 6 hours. The
ice-floe carrying the expedition members is currently 800 kilometers from Spitsbergen.
The meteorology service said visibility in the area is good, which should last at least until the end of
Saturday.
As was reported earlier, the round-the-clock polar nights at the station's location are close to an end, and
dusk lasting about 5-6 hours is approaching, during which the rescuers should be able to evacuate the explorers.
polar expedition reached warm waters and began disintegrating. [RU EUROPE ASIA EEU EMRG SCI DIS] va tj
[Interfax] |
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