Missionaries fall into Bering Sea
Seven people returning in a small plane from a church mission in Russia ran out of gas and spent up to 70 minutes in the Bering Sea before being rescued. The pilot and passengers clung to empty fuel drums late Aug. 13 as volunteers in helicopters plucked them from the frigid waters.
Among those rescued and treated for hypothermia at a Nome hospital were the pilot David Cochrane, 70, of Kenai and Pamela Swedderg, 30, of Soldotna. The other five passengers were from out of state. All members of the party had been released from a Nome hospital by Aug. 14.
The plane had taken off from Provideniya, Russia, and had stopped at Alaska's St. Lawrence Island before heading toward Nome. It plunged into the sea about 25 miles west of the town. The rescue involved a chance sighting by a pilot flying by, and a private helicopter not normally stationed at Nome.
Terry Day, a Bering Air pilot who first spotted the group, credited a higher power with making the rescue of the missionaries a success. Day first thought he had seen a whale splashing in the water, but had second thoughts when he heard a report of a plane going down.
He went back and marked the spot for rescuers, but soon thought he would run out of fuel. Baker Aviation pilot Vic Olson, who was flying over Nome, radioed that he had plenty of fuel and took over the post. A chopper from Evergreen Helicopters and another from Era Helicopters, which does not normally station a helicopter in Nome, flew to the site. Since they had no rescue equipment, the helicopters hovered just inches above the stranded passengers as volunteers hoisted them aboard. The passengers were in the water between 50 and 70 minutes, Day said.
Alaska State Troopers said water temperatures there average in the mid-30s this time of year. Also rescued were David Anderson, 49, of Phoenix, Ariz.; Cary Dietsche, 35, of Amery, Wis.; Brian Brasher, 24, of Okawville, Ill.; and Donald Wharton, 41, of Madison, Tenn., Barbara Anderson, 51, of Phoenix, Ariz.
Day said the incident illustrated the need for more search-and-rescue equipment in Nome. "There is nobody here in town set up for emergency rescues. These people are extremely, extremely lucky to have been found. These people came in a hairbreadth of dying," Day said.
