Six men found themselves in the middle of a real-life survival story after their plane crashed in Antarctica’s icy wilderness. The crash left them stranded in one of the harshest places on Earth, with freezing winds and no help in sight. With limited supplies, they built a makeshift shelter from the wreckage to stay alive. They melted snow for water and rationed what little food they had, knowing rescue could take weeks. Despite the bitter cold and isolation, they kept each other’s spirits up, determined to survive. After a nail-biting 13 days, a rescue team finally reached them! 🌨️✈️ Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/ Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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00:00The plane broke into three large pieces and crashed onto the hillside, scattering parts
00:05all over the snowy ground.
00:07The wings ripped off, and the main body of the aircraft split into two parts.
00:13Flames crackled from what was left of the airplane.
00:16Seven out of nine crew members survived the crash.
00:19They were all part of the 1946 U.S. mission to map the Antarctic continent.
00:24There were 13 ships, 23 aircraft, and 4,700 people to do the job.
00:31They only had two months of summer down there before the weather got too bad.
00:35USS Pine Island took three seaplanes on their mission.
00:40One of the planes, called George I, had a crew of nine people.
00:44They went on their first 10-hour mission.
00:46Later, when it was time for the second flight, the weather got worse, with stormy seas and
00:51low visibility.
00:53But they decided to take the chance and fly anyway.
00:56It was supposed to be an epic adventure, and even the captain of Pine Island joined the
01:01expedition.
01:03The pilot, Ralph Frenchy LeBlanc, was very experienced and not worried about the weather.
01:08The plane was tied to some small boats, but the waves were so strong that the lines holding
01:14it were damaging the plane's metal body.
01:17Crew members had to attach four special rocket boosters, called Jet Assisted Takeoff Bottles,
01:22to help the plane lift off.
01:24It managed to do so after a run of about 5 miles, but got straight into a blinding snowstorm.
01:31James Robbie Robbins was just 19 years old back then, but already had 1,500 hours of
01:37experience as a radar operator in that type of seaplane.
01:41He once successfully flew 9 hours through thick fog and clouds in Greenland, so he trusted
01:47his abilities.
01:49The radar showed a mountain range 20 miles ahead and icebergs spread out, and it was
01:54all correct.
01:56They had to stay low to take photos for mapping, and it was impossible in bad weather.
02:01So the pilot decided to turn the plane around to head back to the ship.
02:06Suddenly the plane hit something.
02:08At the time they didn't know what it was, but later they realized it was a snow-covered
02:13ridge that was hidden and couldn't be seen on radar.
02:17The loud bang shocked everyone on board.
02:19The pilot and co-pilot quickly pushed the plane's controls to try to lift it back into
02:24the sky.
02:25But just a few seconds later, the fuel tank in the front of the plane blew up.
02:30Collapsing with a ridge likely cracked one of the fuel tanks, so the gas started to leak.
02:36The fumes from the gas might've been set on fire by an electrical spark or the plane's
02:40hot engines.
02:42The blast was so strong that it broke the plane into three parts.
02:47The pilot was hurt and stuck upside down in the burning front part of the aircraft.
02:52Some of the other men were also badly injured.
02:54Some crawled out of the wreckage, and others had been thrown out into the snow during the
02:59crash.
03:00Most of them couldn't even remember the bang or the impact.
03:04The crew managed to pull the trapped pilot out of the wreckage and put him into a sleeping
03:08bag inside the back part of the plane.
03:11They also tried to help Frederick Williams, who was severely injured.
03:15They placed him on a piece of debris to keep him still and wrapped him in blankets to keep
03:20him warm.
03:21Unfortunately, even though they did their best to take care of him, Williams passed
03:25away a few hours later.
03:27Sadly, the navigator and the radioman didn't survive the crash either.
03:33Three crew members had only one blanket, so they took turns staying in the middle where
03:37it was warmer.
03:39For the first three days, the weather was really bad.
03:42It snowed a lot, and the sky was super dark and cloudy.
03:47The crew started looking through the wreckage for anything useful.
03:50Near what used to be the back part of the plane, they found three big boxes of pemmican.
03:56It's a kind of emergency food that has everything you need to stay healthy, but it's not the
04:01most delicious food on Earth.
04:03Each box had about 100 paper cups filled with this special food.
04:08They also found better food in the flight rations.
04:11There were steaks, potatoes, canned veggies, bread, butter, salt, pepper, sugar, canned
04:17milk, a few cookies, and even two big cans of peanut butter.
04:21They had enough food to last for a while, and they figured the pemmican would help them
04:25get through the long dark winter if necessary.
04:29All of the fresh food was hidden in the snow, where the kitchen used to be, so they had
04:34to dig it out.
04:35They got most of the sugar by licking it off the snow and separating it by taste.
04:41The crew also found a small two-burner stove in the emergency supplies, but they didn't
04:46have any fuel.
04:47Luckily, the plane had some fuel left in the tanks, so they tapped one of the lines and
04:52had enough to last a long time.
04:55They kept the burners constantly on to melt snow to fill two or three water holders that
05:00held about 4 or 5 gallons each.
05:03It seemed like it took 15 or 20 pots of snow to fill just one cup of water.
05:09After 3 days, the weather got better, the sky was clear, and the sun was shining brightly.
05:15From where they were, they could see the ocean down the hill.
05:18While exploring the wreckage, they found more sleeping bags, a camera with film, and other
05:23supplies like a sled and a life raft made for 9 people.
05:28Days went by, then the sun never went down.
05:32Huge hungry seagulls hanging out right next to the wreck were getting on everyone's nerves.
05:37To distract themselves a bit, the crew played an old Navy game called Salvo.
05:42It's like a battleship's game for two players, where your task is to find and defeat all
05:47the ships of your rival.
05:49They also took some photos of everyone and the wreck from different angles with a brownie
05:54box camera they had on the plane.
05:57The radar man painted big yellow letters on the airplane's wings with the names of the
06:01deceased crew members to make sure rescuers knew what had happened.
06:06On the 13th day, a rescue plane finally showed up.
06:10Everyone shouted, waved, and did everything to get the pilot's attention.
06:14But the plane didn't stop and kept flying.
06:18Two hours later, it came back, and Robbins, in a hurry, threw fuel onto a pile of flammable
06:24stuff to set it on fire.
06:26The bang was so big, it burned his eyebrows.
06:29But it worked.
06:31The plane turned and flew toward them, wiggling its wings as a sign it saw them.
06:36The pilot dropped a note attached to a weight.
06:39It said, if you can walk to the lake, make a circle.
06:42If not, form a straight line.
06:45The lake was 10 miles away, but they knew they had no choice but to get there.
06:50And so, they made a circle, signaling that they were ready for rescue.
06:55Then they got to work.
06:56They stacked sleeping bags on the sled and placed their injured pilot on top.
07:01Robbins took a compass from the crashed plane and attached it to the sled's handlebars
07:05to help guide them.
07:07Three men pulled the sled while another walked behind, making sure they stayed on track.
07:12The snow was so deep that they often sank up to their waists.
07:17The journey only got easier when they reached solid ground.
07:21So it took them 24 hours to walk the 10 miles to the shore.
07:26As they got close, a thick fog rolled in, so they couldn't see the rescue plane.
07:32But the pilot started the engines, and the crew followed the sound.
07:36Soon, two rescuers arrived in a raft and helped them paddle out to the waiting plane.
07:42They climbed aboard and flew back to their ship, the Pine Island.
07:46All the survivors were taken to the USS Philippine Sea and later returned home.
07:51For six of the nine men who crashed on Thurston Island, life continued.
07:58That's it for today!
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