Today marks the anniversary of an extraordinary event in the life of Hatton native, Carl Ben Eielson. In 1927, an Australian adventurer, George Wilkins, had been trying for several years to realize a dream of being the first to fly over the Arctic from Alaska to Norway. After trying several pilots who crashed several planes, people were shaking their heads that he was still trying.
Another explorer recommended Eielson, who had become a legendary pilot in Alaska. Eielson was at a low point, having lost a flying contract. He was back in North Dakota at a Langdon barbershop, when he got the call.
The journey would become one of the most epic achievements of all time – remember it was 1927, and they had only a small Stinson bi-plane. They took off from Barrow Alaska on March 29th, 1927. It was 30 below zero. After several hours exploring the way north, their engine started cutting out. They made an emergency landing on an ice floe – the first landing ever made on floating ice. After two hours and five tries, they become airborne again, but were soon hit by a storm and had to land.
By the time they could fly again, darkness had fallen. They fought against a 40 mile an hour side-wind, and making matters worse -- their instruments weren’t illuminated. Wilkins was leaning forward over the gas tank with a guarded torchlight when the engine cut out. They had run out of gas.
In his book, Flying in the Arctic, Wilkins later wrote, “As we came within a few hundred feet of the ground… we could dimly see it … serrated with ice ridges.
“Near the ground, the air was rough. The plane swerved and pitched, but Eielson, still calm and cool, corrected for each unsteady move.” They came down hard, plowing into the snow. Wilkins slipped through the door of the machine, driving snow filling his eyes. Dimly about them he saw pressure ridges as high as the machine.
The lower wing was torn, and the stanchions for the skis were twisted and broken. They had landed on a smooth stretch of ice between the towering ridges. They had been extraordinarily lucky, but their island was drifting, and there was no hope of finding their way to safety until the storm subsided.
Tomorrow, we’ll bring you the conclusion of the story.
Dakota Datebook written by Merry Helm
