Angry Brit On Dangerous Flight To Remote Inuit Village | Ice Pilots NWT | Wonder

[Music] [Music] february has turned into a busy month at buffalo airways [Music] the staff is scrambling to prepare two firefighting cl215 water bombers for delivery to turkey on the other side of the world company president joel mcbrian made the 7 million sale with the turkish government weeks ago thank you pleasure but the deal has one proviso deliver the planes by early march i was pretty happy that it went through and everything and everyone was happy on the other flip side is that we got a very serious job to do the low-flying short-haul cl215s are not made to traverse continents especially not in frigid temperatures they're used in summer to scoot water off lakes for firefighting and then there's the small matter of getting them across the stormy north atlantic in winter once the boys leave red deer on the 215s they'll cross canada with stopovers in winnipeg montreal and st john's from there the most dangerous leg of the journey to turkey begins a 2 200 kilometer flight across the atlantic to the azores with nothing in between but open water and this is in like your lake at your cottage water this is rolling seas high winds that's got buffalo's mechanics working around the clock to turn these boats with wings into intercontinental aircraft we put a lot of time and effort into it a lot of research a lot of background and uh this is the one we'll watch very closely good to go boys but a big family event is making things even more complicated well my sister's getting married sister kathy's wedding isn't at the town hall it's in las vegas who we knew that had been a turkey who had flown with joe so focused on the water bomber contract the rest of the mcbryans are wondering if they'll be there to give kathy away well he's been told he's going and he's trying everything to come up with an excuse not to i think mikey on the other hand is looking forward to the trip i went for lunch and i got a freaking fortune cookie here it says need some adventure and then enjoyment take a vacation mikey's following his cookies advice all i'm thinking right now is las vegas but that means making sure nothing falls through the cracks while he's gone today's the day i gotta train sandy here to replace me i'm heading down to vegas tonight sandy sutton has been working at buffalo long enough to be gamed for anything so first we'll we'll talk to the airplane am i asking him just uh what time he'd be down yes good morning pnr just wondering what your eta is everything you got is on these keys the one's a ticket counter one's the medic room it's a critical time to be away mikey is betting that preparations for the dangerous water bomber delivery to turkey is well in hand enough he hopes for some fun in vegas i might as well take these packing her up well i don't need a toque this has buffalo my hat's buffalo black t-shirts buffalo hoodies buffalo here's my watches buffalo from the land of ice to the city of lights here we go 125. holy [ __ ] they got a sewing kit in here hello my sister kelly how's it going 50 of our closest friends are running around looking for you guys okay bye bye work bye bye y'all and view las vegas what happens in vegas [Music] stays in vegas and mikey's not thinking about what's happening back at yellowknife it's when we leave north 60 it gets a little crazy the next morning he's hung over and half awake when the office calls to confirm a booking a customer is moving house and home to the tiny arctic outpost of paula tuck the day after tomorrow but right now mikey can barely tell the time uh holy smokers uh today's day the wedding uh we're hoping it wasn't at noon it's either noon or five and then it's time for the wedding ceremony here comes the groom here comes the bride and here's the father of the bride joe kept everyone guessing right up until the end no no no no you take him as your husband [Applause] uh it is a kathy day but uh we uh we really want to celebrate it so we will dance on these tables tonight your glass i hope i'm really happy you dressed up for the occasion that means a lot the mcbryants know how to party but it seems that mikey is all partied out back from a wild few days in vegas mikey gets some bad news there's a scheduling screw up on the charter he booked and joe's not happy had we paid attention to buffalo there wouldn't have been a pull-up in the charter how long have we known about it we've been arguing about forever we did one charter this month and screwed it up before vegas mikey sent two of buffalo's top pilots south to red deer to stand by to fly the water bombers to turkey leaving no one available to fly the charter to paula tuck you know that was supposed to be do you know what reason that i think is up there yeah so it would go through this [ __ ] every day of maybe this maybe that you guys are maybe um yeah he's not in a good mood today he yelled at me for 25 minutes he leads by example an example of giving people [ __ ] [Music] now joe's taking charge of the situation and that means another surprise trip this time south to buffalo's hangar in red deer alberta [Music] it's here that buffalo pilots arnie schrader and justin simley are waiting to depart for turkey on the water bombers it's just exciting for us exciting for everybody they've been trying to sell those airplanes for a while and though the planes are prepped and ready buffalo still hasn't received a quarter million dollar delivery fee from turkey so joe's decreed that no one is going anywhere and he's furious that mikey sent arnie and justin to red deer to stand by when a pilot is needed now for the charter do i need two no i mean i said right outside there on my cell phone i phone said dick damn shirt i'm covered before those two guys come out you know here we are in red deer there's somebody screwed up somewhere along the line we talked to mike and he you know we had i thought it was arranged they had enough coverage that doesn't mean [ __ ] enough discussion joe takes action and pulls justin out of red deer so he can fly the charter you guys have a good time i'll see you later still to come the water bomber pilots prepare for the most dangerous journey of their lives [Music] this morning he was in red deer alberta now captain justin simley arrives in hay river northwest territories 300 kilometers away he's going to pilot a charter flight to the edge of the arctic ocean at buffalo where you have to be able to adapt to sudden changes i'm surprised to be here justin came to buffalo straight out of flight school eight years later he has no plans to leave you know it's a bit of a frontier in a way and uh yeah it's that's where the excitement comes in it's exciting who's this this is juno his charter passenger keith dowling is at a major turning point can we get someone to grab that maybe and i look after the dog although he grew up in buckinghamshire england keith settled in the northwest territories 20 years ago for the past nine years he's been working at a charitable society in fort smith this is a huge life-changing commitment as far as i'm concerned but i'm moving from a place my home of 20 years to paula tuck now he's leaving fort smith a town of 2500 people to become a housing manager in the remote inuit community of paula tuck population 250. it's a seven hour flight from hay river north to pawlituck but keith and his dog juno might not be going anywhere right now forecast to be 45 knots out of the south-southwest so i suspect if we carried on bravely we'd probably get stuck in a nasty-ass arctic storm up there so hey how are you i'm good i'm pleased and you be nice to get somewhere boys kidding well we could go up there and uh it's a bit i just spoken to paul to talk about right now uh it's fairly clear now but the wind is picking up and there is uh a blizzard warning for later this afternoon yeah we're we're uh well aware of that so it's going to be a few hours getting up there and paul tuck is not a good place to go when it's uh when there's a blizzard happening so i think we're going to sit tight today it's supposed to clear up tomorrow and uh we'll get green first thing in the morning when are you available to leave tomorrow listen yeah he was a little frustrated maybe a little abrasive at first i should pick that up buffalo airways the go nowhere airline for me this is something like massive undertaking right i just want to get there and get the thing underway right get my stuff unpacked you can understand the guy's point of view i mean he was gearing himself up for a big move you know big change in his life we'd get up there and even if we get in in the blizzard the locals wouldn't come out to the airport nobody goes to the airport if there's a southwest wind over 15 knots that's winter because it throws a lot of turbulence and they've there's been a few uh few accidents up there because of it holotuck's fierce southwest wind is legendary no one knows the dangers of the north better than that old bush pilot buffalo joe mcbrien extremely turbulent in there airplanes become almost uncontrollable which is very rare for airplanes to be uncontrollable in wind nobody's been able to explain to me and i've asked a lot of the experienced people around her i'll come on you know i can control my airplane any other wind but this one i seem to just be too violent for me the inuit residents of paula tuck believe a bad spirit is to blame and joe is not so sure they're wrong well the method has let the airplanes uh not make it get caught up that wind and busting themselves the locals believe that uh you know it's a bad home and they've they've uh there's been a few airplanes that have crashed there in those in that wind shear keith is anxious to get to paula tuck but the move will have to wait at least one more day we're not going to mess around with that with that storm up there and hopefully it clears up in the morning what can you do not much back in yellowknife it's a special day for buffalo shipping assistant janelle glenn it's my birthday my 21st birthday got the blankie janelle's getting treated to a day of dog sledding thanks to her boyfriend buffalo captain devin brooks spoiler today and i don't have to do it again for a long time the couple met when janelle started working at buffalo a few months ago we started dating and here we are she's living here that's it he just likes me the way that i am and he's very smart and funny at 28 devin's the youngest captain of the c-46 the toughest plane to fly in buffalo's fleet it's a different airplane to fly than anything i've flown one of the hardest to fly in the world so it gives you self-satisfaction that i did go captain on it i'll take that to the next job and devin's not wasting any time i'm ready for something new my dream is to make captain at a major airline and i know i will eventually but first he's lined up an interview for a job flying for the u.n in africa going to africa and flying over there is just a different adventure i would like to do before the major airline if he wants it then that's good he just has to make sure that he knows that he wants it you know and devin doesn't seem to want to stay in the north i think he'll miss it when he leaves and right now he probably just doesn't know that yet she needs to do what she wants to do and make her own life and what happens between her and i like i say time will tell soon enough devin's off to vancouver tomorrow for the job interview it's early morning at the hay river airport oh man that sucks and justin simley the captain of buffalo's charter flight to the remote village of polytuck isn't liking the latest weather report it's calling it locally half mile and blowing snow winds out of the south at 25 knots it's too windy visibility's too low the only storm in the entire arctic is right over his destination we're trying to get it done here but the weather doesn't seem to be cooperating so buffalo joe checks in before he heads to yellowknife for the day this afternoon it's supposed to be good and tomorrow is is good on the public forecast are you comfortable with that oh yeah yeah yeah do it okay instead of waiting out the storm in hay river justin decides to fly to the town of norman wells up the mackenzie valley that should get them within striking distance of paula tuck you know at least if we make it to the wells for two hours away as opposed to six or seven days so that's why we're doing this justin gives co-pilot sean berry the go-ahead to prep the plane for takeoff [Music] the dc-3 is credited with opening up passenger plane service in the 1930s it proved itself in all kinds of conditions in war on remote airstrips over jungles deserts and tundra after a day's delay passenger keith dowling is relieved to finally get going well at least we're going somewhere today we'll be a lot closer and the whole point according to the captain is which even if we only get a little opening we get straight in there i think he was happy to be on the move you know to to just get out of hay river and get at least a little bit closer to his new home on this charter flight the expat bridge is moving house and home to a tiny inuit outpost on the edge of the arctic ocean everybody i know my friends and people think i'm quite mad um to be going somewhere like paul attack i didn't want to go there completely alone um so i figured i'd take my dog she ain't gonna like this come here you did good now don't get off get on you know i'm just wondering if she needs to go to the toilet because maybe nerds come here coming up it's all systems go for the water bomber crews but a new problem grounds them i don't know what to tell you there we got to get a hangar that's the big problem in yellowknife there's good news buffalo flight ops director mike hanley has just received the delivery fee he's been waiting for from the turkish government now the water bombers can set off overseas with that paperwork we're fully approved and the guys in render have been notified this morning but it's still not a go chief pilot arnie schrader has a new obstacle to overcome i don't know what to tell you there we got to get in the hangar that's the big problem i sent you that sheet yesterday saying there's no space until monday so they can't leave red deer until sandy sutton and head office can find hanger space for the cl-215 water bombers in winnipeg their first stop on the cross canada flight okay okay thanks bye like that's ernie that's the head guy he's fighting with me like we gotta get these planes we can't go and it's like well ernie i can only do what you can do right he's fighting with me saying they've got to have two hanger spaces but i've been telling these guys all along there is not two hanger spaces like that they said no she's worked still working on it arnie talks it over with lead mechanic corey dodd yeah one's no good we have them both in it's gonna take over over half a day to warm it up yeah of course these airplanes are designed for summertime operations and we're doing this in a winter environment normally the 215 only flies in the summer months fighting fires this slow flying boat with wings can scoop up 1400 gallons of water in just 10 seconds to get the water bombers to their new owner in turkey buffalo must fly them there now in february but they're not winter planes the 215s are vulnerable to extreme cold these airplanes are not designed to be parked in those type of temperatures you have to get them in a hangar to make them operate properly and i'm just wondering if you might be able to have room for a couple of cl215s if sandy can't find two hanger spots to keep the water bombers warm after their first leg of the journey there won't be any journey at all so 95 booked almost everywhere different places have enough room for one plane but they don't have one with just 21 days left to get the planes to turkey is contracted this sale could already be in jeopardy his friends think he's crazy but now there's no turning back for keith dowling [Music] traveling on board a buffalo airways dc3 he's moving himself his dog juno and all his worldly goods to take a job in polytuck a remote inuit village of 250 souls we could reasonably describe the experience as rustic a friend of mine actually said to me whatever you do take a plastic bag with you he said because if the worst happens then you need to puke or take a piss or if you absolutely can't help yourself did you try to shake your pants or jump out the plane he said you'll be glad you took one of these it will take five hours just to get to a stopover in norman wells so keith moves up to the cockpit to chat with captain justin right yeah uh are you leaving some people behind or do you believe with your friends behind you leaving all your comfort zones behind absolutely yeah yeah apolloduct is actually really beautiful in the summer the land around it turns green and uh every time i've been there uh you know it's the reception has been warm so i i think you're gonna enjoy living there as long as you can get out every now and again you know yeah as i said i'll be out of business and two or three drivers to see my psychiatrist yeah well like i said if you you get there for two or three days and you want to walk out this bonus we'll come get you don't walk back to fort smith keith has no intention of walking out he just wants to get there and get settled in in vancouver buffalo's youngest captain devin brooks is cleaned up and dressed to impress it's valentine's day but instead of being home in yellowknife with his girlfriend janelle he has a job interview with an airline that flies for the u.n in africa this is a big one this is 7.47 he's kept quiet about it at buffalo in case things don't go as planned you could blow it say something stupid they might not like it just for who your personality is you you might not get offered the job you want in yellowknife mikey's already on to him he's leaving for two days in the middle of the week and he didn't give an explanation he's saying he wants two days off and usually what that means is that someone's leaving to do do a airline interview i'm not saying that devin's doing it it's just i've seen it before you don't really want to make it known that you're looking to get out before you're actually out still after two years in the frozen north devon is looking for something new i gladly trade in them snow pants and parka beaver pelt of a hat or whatever they're called for a suit and tie and a pair of dress shoes i'd trade that in pretty soon i do really want this job i'm thinking of it as a stepping stone just like buffalo was and for now devin's trying not to think about the impact this job in africa would have on his relationship with janelle he's taking things one step at a time high above the mckenzie valley justin and keith are already thinking about their next step do you think he's looking good for us to get overwhelmed today it's tough for me to tell because nobody's picking up the phone and politics and that doesn't give me a good feeling you know when uh when nobody's at the airport they should be there 95 107 on profile showing uh 750 down after a five-hour flight they make it to the settlement of norman wells justin needs to check on the weather over polytuck maybe it's cleared up enough for them to continue on today keith and juno have more urgent needs to take care of what my dog is saying is never mind that i've got to go to the toilet juno good girl keith hopes this is just a short pit stop okay my good man said i've never been in an air traffic control place hello air traffic controller keith is moving to politics very slowly we're just looking at the politic weather and it's uh it's still windy as hell nest it's still 27 knots right pretty high to be going in there but it is smart enough i mean it's come down about 20 30 knots from what it was doesn't look like the storm's gonna let up today so uh i mean good for us tomorrow morning probably early i'll call her a day at that and try it in the morning a bed for the night is in order [Music] coming up justin and keith look for shelter it's a [ __ ] ghost but the crew is left out in the cold in yellowknife janelle glenn is waiting to hear from her boyfriend devin about his interview for a job in africa her roommate and buffalo co-pilot scott blue remembers when janelle arrived in town she shows up and before she shows up her auntie's like ooh scott you're gonna have to meet my niece she's coming up she's young she's beautiful you like her so much i'm like cool i go on vacation i come back devon beat me to the pouch [Laughter] but it's scott who's spending valentine's day with janelle although her mind is elsewhere i'm gonna call devin uh to see how his interview went and uh hopefully answers or shut off his cell phone if he's still in the interview hey devin it's me just give me a call when you're uh done your interview or whatever you're doing okay love you bye the interview's over and devin's facing a big decision they offered me something that i need to think about a job in the congo sudan or uganda one of the three oh i'm excited but i got thinking to do now so i've already started that he's got a four hour flight to consider his options in just a few minutes before he boards to let janelle know how it went he got a job in africa he won't tell me what airplane or anything but it doesn't sound excited i thought he'd be more excited or something but i have to go a long way from yellowknife wandering the streets of norman wells justin keith and the crew are discovering that there are only a few hotels in town it's a ghost i've never been here in the winter and it seems none are open year round what do you want to do there chief where's the next one finally after a frustrating search success cozy to say the least sort of that's it man this is what it looks like it ain't a lot for 229 is it uh one of the other hotels we tried we go do they they're not even serving lunch today because it's saturday make some sense of that and but they are serving supper tonight but it's only one menu and it's the valentine's menu they had the tables all uh set up you know all the couples were having dinner in there dressed up in their in their suits and we kind of come walking in our oil stained and carhartts sticking like have gas you know and sweat it was pretty funny cheers to that pleasure to meet you yeah for sure cheers guys i can think of a hundred other places i'd rather be on valentine's day they're all smiles now but the honeymoon will be over if they're still stuck here tomorrow [Music] it's a new day and another chance for justin and the dc-3 crew to get their passengers keith and juno the dog to their new home in polytuck the biz is up now it's uh eight miles so it's come up from a mile and a half this morning so the storm over the tiny inuit town on the edge of the arctic ocean is dying down this could be the window of opportunity that justin has been waiting for it's not perfect conditions but it's a hell of a lot better than it was yesterday and and it's it's doable hopefully we actually get into the air and get to paul attack [Music] things are good keith finally gets his first glimpse of paula tuck where his new life is about to begin well uh obviously we just circled the runway to make sure it was clear looks like it's been recently plowed i've got a little uh glimpse of the uh hamlet town uh good to see you back out the reality of this life-changing move is hitting keith well i mean i hope uh i take to paula truck i hope i take it to uh the people of palmetto and likewise they take to me that would be a very nice situation it's pretty cold yeah yeah yeah you're getting off in a minute come here to [ __ ] disembark without dislocating myself the local people come out to greet the new arrivals very nice to meet you hey no joke but a dog's name's juno thank you boys thank you excellent excellent yeah anytime a very very interesting four days couple of days five days well done i really don't see you guys take care yeah bye hulk [Music] that goes in the bedroom too i think his reaction was maybe a little bit nervous but mostly excited and relieved that he was finally there that's what the north's all about is meeting new people and new beginnings and a bit of an adventure one of the last frontiers you know that's why all those guys are up here mission completed justin's flown to the frozen edge of the arctic ocean now his mind turns to his next mission flying water bombers on an even longer more dangerous journey across the atlantic ocean to turkey great to get the job done then your mind switches into turkey mode that was the next step coming up devin returned song with his mind made up [Music] returning to buffalo hq in yellowknife captain devin brooks has had a change of heart about the job offer to fly for the u.n in africa [Music] the interview was good but then i got thinking about it on the way back and that wasn't the job for me i'd rather stay in canada i think uh it was a hard decision for him to to uh turn down the job but i don't think he was ready to leave here anyway i'm glad that he decided to stay for i'm sure not taking the job in africa with the other company is no big deal i don't know just wasn't for me so devin's not going anywhere for now and neither is janelle [Music] here we are in the hacienda and red deer after flying a charter to the arctic ocean and back captain justin simley joins the rest of the buffalo crew destined for turkey they did get her in the barn right on by contract buffalo only has three weeks left to deliver the water bombers problem is they still haven't found a hanger to house the planes at their first overnight stop in winnipeg basically if you can't find hanger space then you know we can't leave the airplanes outside to decide to freeze up we started them in the cool the engines will start but it'll bust those those lines got frozen oil and it'll bust those coolers out in the wings so that's one of the big problems hey mike sandy around oh yeah thanks justin jumps right into the hangar issue he calls sandy at buffalo hq for an update hey sandra how are you i'm i'm here and you're working hard what have we got uh where's the hope you are tenacious that is for sure all right ernie we got hangers in winnipeg oh we got him yeah okay air canada we'll take one for sure okay um galley western kelly western may or may not but if they don't air canada will put the other one in they've got a jet going out at midnight they'll throw it in it okay so well yeah i was looking pretty sour there for a minute but uh yeah things are picking up but it'd be nice to get the show on the road for sure flying the two planes to turkey will gobble up over 60 000 liters of fuel now that the turks have paid up buffalo joe's got gas money 32 thousand better all now so we go back to the airport and divide up among the boys it's too much pressure for one guy to carry 30 000 in his pocket you know if he loses that then all the guys are mad out of me i got four thousand a piece for everybody here that we can't spend that for a thousand that's for gas we'll be burning into the life raft to keep warm yeah the guys can joke about the dangers but this trip is not to be taken lightly the north atlantic is very difficult this time of year to fly over because there's all kinds of lows in there you know it's very difficult to get across their temperatures are you know 30 to 40 below weather's a huge thing it's just real important when you're going on a trip like that everything has to be right because if you screw something up things can go very bad very quickly justin will be flying with arnie the other water bomber will be flown by dave poole from red deer and george fury just arrived from newfoundland well i gotta get a hot drop of coffee now also arriving today is buffalo's cargo manager kelly girassevic bring it on she's flown in from yellowknife to give the boys a proper send-off on this dangerous journey it's beer o'clock honey kelly's been at buffalo just over a year during that time she's forged a strong friendship with chief pilot arnie schrader he's 66 but he's my buddy you know he took me under his wing when i got here and he's my like one of my best friends and i'm fortunate to know him hi i'm kelly cool so kelly wants to say goodbye to arnie and the crew in person this is a long trip for ernie especially at his age too you know that concerns me well you look pretty good and relaxed oh yeah and i think he's a bit worried but i don't think he's you know letting everybody know that ernie good luck on your trip and good luck you guys on your trip i'm glad i got to be here and see you guys before you got to take off and after chewing out his pilots just days ago joe was feeling good about the team he's put together for this daring adventure if you look at all the different aspects of the background of all these guys i don't think there could be a bitter crew assembled to do a job like we're going to start on right right now well i miss you guys he said he's gonna miss you yeah coming up an emotional send-off for the crew of the cl215 water bombers [Music] [Music] with three weeks to deliver a pair of cl-215 water bombers to turkey the two buffalo flight crews gear up for the journey of their lives the first water bomber will be flown by two of buffalo's best arnie schrader and justin simley just and i have flown along together lots he worked with me on 215's for a few years so it's it's just natural for us their in-flight mechanic will be corey dodd mechanics norm byrne and matt belanger will be in the second 2-15 piloted by dave poole and george fury it's an adventure for all of us all right type of a trick we'll get them later yeah for those left behind like kelly jurassic it's a difficult goodbye take it easy oh yes we will be i love you so much i'm sure we're all just going to be sweating until we get the phone call that they made it you know it's a long trip for those guys long trip smiled takeoff i'm charlie about arnie and justin going to turkey and i think they're real damn brave to do that for joe i just hope they make it safe and everybody's okay [Music] [Music] all the planning and preparing behind them now it's finally time to fly tiger 31 right 299 [Music] [Music] there we go [Music] [Music] on the next episode of ice pilots nwt the fed shut down buffalo's flagship service this is a noticeable suspension for your flight wannabe pilot ramon faces a life-changing decision i'm totally confused that could scuttle his friend jeremy's dreams too and the water bomber crews face danger on a daring wintertime flight across canada we can't see with the weather ahead of us [Music] you

Channel: Wonder

Views: 82,861

Keywords: Wonder, wonder channel, survivial videos, survival stories, outdoor channel, extreme documentary, ice pilots full episodes, ice pilots nwt, ice pilots crash landing, ice pilots nwt full episodes, arctic planes, buffalo airways, yellowknife canada, yellowknife airport, ice pilots dc6, ice pilots, dc-4 plane, dc-4 aircraft, paulatuk jamboree, paulatuk hunters and trappers committee, paulatuk rcmp, paulatuk htc, inuit, inuit people, inuit food, inuit documentary

Id: rX4NmTulNe4

Length: 44min 30sec (2670 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 14 2021