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Outlook: Surviving Arctic Crash and Polar Bears

Sergey Ananov in helicopter

10/08/2015

Surviving Arctic Crash and Polar Bears

BBC World Service - Outlook, Surviving Arctic Crash and Polar Bears

The Russian pilot who survived by ditching his helicopter in the Arctic Ocean.

The Russian pilot who survived by ditching his helicopter in the Arctic Ocean and fighting off polar bears.

Sergey Ananov is a Russian pilot who was attempting to become the first person to fly around the world in a light helicopter, weighing less than one tonne. But the record journey went dramatically wrong near the Arctic Circle, and he had to ditch into the ice cold sea just off Baffin Island in Canada. He was stuck on an ice floe for 36 hours and had to fight off polar bears. He told Jo Fidgen about his incredible fight for survival.

Every year, the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, hosts the biggest arts festival in the world - over 50,000 performances from almost 50 countries. For the next three weeks on Outlook, we bring you the best the festivals have to offer. The BBC's Pooneh Ghoddoosi reports from Edinburgh.

Thirty one years ago, in 1984, Ruth Coker Burks was visiting a friend in hospital in her home state of Arkansas in the United States. By chance, she found out that one of the state's first Aids patients was being treated there. His family would not look after him, so Ruth took it upon herself to care for him even though she had no medical training. And over the years, she has done the same for nearly a thousand people - often burying them herself in her family cemetery. 

If you are in Uganda, you have a problem but can not afford a lawyer, who do you turn to? Every month, hundreds of thousands of people turn to Barefoot Law, which offers free legal advice by text, Facebook and other social media. It was set up by Ugandan lawyer Gerald Abila.

(Photo: Sergey Ananov in Robinson R22 Helicopter. Credit: Sergey Ananov)

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