Explorers, or boys messing about? notes

Explorers, or boys messing about? Either way, taxpayer gets rescue bill

Their last expedition ended in farce when

the Russians threatened to send in military

planes to intercept them as they tried to

cross into Siberia via the icebound Bering

Strait.

Yesterday a new adventure undertaken by

British explorers Steve Brooks and Quentin

Smith almost led to tragedy when their

helicopter plunged into the sea off

Antarctica.

The men were plucked from the icy water

by a Chilean naval ship after a nine-hour

rescue which began when Mr Brooks

contacted his wife, Jo Vestey, on his

satellite phone asking for assistance. The

rescue involved the Royal Navy, the RAF

and British coastguards.

Last night there was resentment in some

quarters that the men’s adventure had cost

the taxpayers of Britain and Chile tens of

thousands of pounds.

Experts questioned the wisdom of taking a

small helicopter — the four-seater Robinson

R44 has a single engine — into such a

hostile environment.

There was also confusion about what

exactly the men were trying to achieve. A

website set up to promote the Bering Strait

expedition claims the team were planning

to fly from the north to south pole in their

“trusty helicopter”.

But Ms Vestey claimed she did not know

what the pair were up to, describing them

as “boys messing about with a helicopter”.

The drama began at around 1am British

time when Mr Brooks, 42, and 40-year-old

Mr Smith, also known as Q, ditched into the

sea 100 miles off Antarctica, about 36

miles north of Smith Island, and scrambled

into their liferaft.

Mr Brooks called his wife in London on his

satellite phone. She said: “He said they

were both in the liferaft but were okay and

could I call the emergency people?”

Meanwhile, distress signals were being

beamed from the ditched helicopter and

from Mr Brooks’ Breitling emergency

watch, a wedding present.

The signals from the aircraft were

deciphered by Falmouth* coastguard and

passed on to the rescue coordination

centre at RAF Kinloss in Scotland.

The Royal Navy’s ice patrol ship, HMS

Endurance, which was 180 miles away

surveying uncharted waters, began

steaming towards the scene and dispatched

its two Lynx helicopters.

One was driven back because of poor

visibility but the second was on its way

when the men were picked up by a Chilean

naval vessel at about 10.20am British time.

Though the pair wore survival suits and the

weather at the spot where they ditched

was clear, one Antarctic explorer told Mr

Brooks’ wife it was “nothing short of a

miracle” that they had survived.

Both men are experienced adventurers. Mr

Brooks, a property developer from London,

has taken part in expeditions to 70

countries in 15 years. He has trekked solo

to Everest base camp and walked barefoot

for three days in the Himalayas. He has

negotiated the white water rapids of the

Zambezi river by kayak and survived a

charge by a silver back gorilla in the Congo.

He is also a qualified mechanical engineer

and pilot.

He and his wife spent their honeymoon

flying the helicopter from Alaska to Chile.

The 16,000-mile trip took three months.

Mr Smith, also from London, claims to have

been flying since the age of five. He has

twice flown a helicopter around the globe

and won the world freestyle helicopter

flying championship.

Despite their experience, it is not the first

time they have hit the headlines for the

wrong reasons.

In April, Mr Brooks and another explorer,

Graham Stratford, were poised to become

the first to complete a crossing of the 56-

mile wide frozen Bering Strait between the

US and Russia in an amphibious vehicle,

Snowbird VI, which could carve its way

through ice floes and float in the water in

between.

But they were forced to call a halt after

the Russian authorities told them they

would scramble military helicopters to lift

them off the ice if they crossed the border.

Ironically, one of the aims of the

expedition, for which Mr Smith provided air

back-up, was to demonstrate how good

relations between east and west had

become.

The wisdom of the team’s latest adventure

was questioned by, among others, Günter

Endres, editor of Jane’s Helicopter Markets

and Systems, said: “I’m surprised they used

the R44. I wouldn’t use a helicopter like

that to go so far over the sea. It sounds as

if they were pushing it to the maximum”.

A spokesman for the pair said it was not

known what had gone wrong. The flying

conditions had been “excellent”.

The Ministry of Defence said the taxpayer

would pick up the bill, as was normal in

rescues in the UK and abroad. The

spokesperson said it was “highly unlikely”

it would recover any of the money.

Last night the men were on their way to

the Chilean naval base Eduardo Frei, where

HMS Endurance was to pick them up. Ms

Vestey said: “They have been checked and

appear to be well. I don’t know what will

happen to them once they have been

picked up by HMS Endurance — they’ll

probably have their bottoms kicked and be

sent home the long way”.

Steven Morris

Falmouth*: coastal town in Cornwall, England

First Paragraph:

"Their last expedition ended in farce"
- immediately the two men are introduced as a comical mess and we think of them as ridiculous characters

Second Paragraph:

"Yesterday a new adventure.."
- use of word "adventure" describes the men as childish and makes fun of them
- hints of sarcasm

"...tragedy when their helicopter plunged..."
-use powerful language,"tragedy" and plunged express drama and emphasise how badly it could have ended

Third Paragraph:

"The men were plucked"
-use of the word "plucked" makes the men sound small and less heroic - mocking them

"Royal Navy, the RAF and British coastguards"
- list of important authorities to imply that the men are not as important and had to be saved

Fifth Paragraph:

"Experts questioned the wisdom.."
- use of the word "experts" makes the men look stupid - implying that they are amateurs
- hint of sarcasm in the use of the word "wisdom" implying that the men have none

Sixth Paragraph:

"'trusty helicopter'"
- use of quotation marks is very sarcastic
- implies that the writer believes that it was definitely not a very reliable helicopter

Seventh Paragraph:

"boys messing about with a helicopter"
- use of the word "boys" shows them to be very immature
- the phrase "messing about" implies that they were just playing and had no idea what they were doing

Eigth Paragraph:

"Mr Brooks, 42 and 40 year old Mr Smith"
- up until now it seemed as if they were only 18 from the way they had been described
- makes them look even more ridiculous, for the reader to find out their real age now

End Paragraph:
"bottoms kicked and be sent home"
- ends the article describing the two men as naughty children
- making fun of them