- Pilots rescued by German plane in Arctic
Two pilots of a German light aircraft were rescued by emergency forces after an emergency landing in the icy sea off Greenland. The Arctic Command of the Danish Armed Forces, responsible for the region, reported that the small plane had issued a distress call while en route from Canada to Narsarsuaq in the south of the world's largest island on Monday.
The crew of a Danish Air Force aircraft was able to quickly locate the plane and witnessed it losing altitude and landing on the water. The two pilots managed to get into a life raft and wave to the crew. Meanwhile, a ship from the command had already set course towards them, allowing the two men to be picked up by a rubber boat shortly after. The successful rescue operation was also captured on a government video.
Through the cooperation of the aircraft and the ship, the lives of two people were saved, the command explained. The two men were taken to the hospital in Qaqortoq. According to the Greenlandic broadcaster KNR, they are two Germans who remained uninjured.
As reported by the "Kieler Nachrichten", the two had departed with the aircraft from the airport "Hungriger Wolf" near Itzehoe two weeks ago to fly to an air show in the US state of Wisconsin. On Monday, the plane encountered an air emergency on the flight from Goose Bay in Canada to Narsarsuaq after 1,300 kilometers. According to the newspaper, the aircraft was no longer salvageable and sank into the sea.
The pilots had initially planned to fly from Germany to an air show in Wisconsin, USA, but their flight was disrupted by an emergency near Goose Bay in Canada. Despite the sinking of their aircraft, they were safely picked up from the icy sea following the emergency landing.
