6 ms·

Iceland’s Ghost Planes

202 points by bootload 10y ago

thinkingkong 10y ago
Greenland also has a pretty interesting one. The Kee Bird. There's a really cool documentary on it here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kee_Bird https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kee_Bird http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/b29-frozen.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/b29-frozen.html
shermozle 10y ago
"no country has attacked Iceland in the last 70 years" This isn't strictly true: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cod_Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cod_Wars
- afarrell 10y ago
  Access to cod-rich waters was something the US insisted on in the treaty of Paris that ended the revolutionary war. By "the US insisted", I mean "John Adams insisted", because he was from Massachusetts, which has an eleven-inch carved-wood cod sculpture hanging in the legislature.
alexandrerond 10y ago
Iceland makes it very explicit that emergency assistance is free of charge and that if you're in trouble, you should call without hesitation (they even have an app where you click a button and your position is transmitted to the SAR center). This policy saves lives, but unfortunately there's a tendency these days in some countries to back-charge for SAR ops when they are a result of irresponsible choices like many mentioned in the article. Thumbs up for Iceland!
- Swizec 10y ago
  That's what we do in Slovenian alps. Rescue is free and immediate. Just call and volunteers come get you. But if you're in trouble because of negligence or improper equipment - like hiking at 6000ft in high heels [1] - then we send you a receipt. [1] some of the stories that make it into the news are really crazy. Like a group of high school students that went on an half day hike without food or water just in their t-shirts. By the time they were rescued, after getting lost, almost all of them had hypothermia. I think criminal charges were brought against the teacher.
  - Quequau 10y ago
    I'm not 100% informed on the details but when I moved to Austria, I joined the Alpenverein. I understand that part of the yearly membership dues go for providing some sort of rescue insurance. Seems like a good arrangement to me.
    - Xylakant 10y ago
      Usually the membership fee in an alpenverein includes an insurance that covers rescue/recovery costs up to a certain limit (25k in austria [1], similar in germany). There are alpenverein sections all over europe, so if you like to go climbing and hiking in the mountains, being a member is a good investment. They also take care of maintaining shelters and marking/maintaining the hiking routes. You also get a guaranteed place to sleep in the huts - though you might have to squeeze on a bench in the guest room if you're late and the place is full. [1] http://www.alpenverein.at/portal/service/mitgliedschaft/mitgliedervorteile/0100_weltweit-versichert.php?navid=971928971928 http://www.alpenverein.at/portal/service/mitgliedschaft/mitg...
  - saiya-jin 10y ago
    France has free chopper rescues from, well anywhere, no questions asked (the line between uninformed decision and negligence can be pretty blurry especially if a lot of cash/criminal charges are floating around). There are cases of inexperienced climbers (one I know from Poland) where reluctance to call chopper in critical situation due to worries of costs (plus losing the face) cost 3 young guys lives. Too many like these. Chopper rescues in alps are in almost daily order (especially in winter in places like Vallee Blanche, best and longest of-piste in Europe). A friend of mine was rescued like this in Calanques next to Marseille after she broke her feet after climbing accident. Chopper was called due to inaccessible terrain, and she had a cool ride hanging from chopper by harness over Mediterranean sea.
    - snaily 10y ago
      > Vallee Blanche, best and longest of-piste in Europe Longest, by virtue of being very flat. Scenery is great, but the ride is (sometimes literally) pedestrian.
- MrDresden 10y ago
  I was a member of the ICE-SAR for some years (left due to my inability to be active and stay up on things during my university years). Everyone, excluding a very small group of administrative and specially trained personal, take part in ICE-SAR as volunteers. There is no pay, but you do get access to some fantastic company of people, specialized equipment and training. So it is completely worth it if you enjoy any kind of out door activity, and don't mind lending a hand when people need help (most see this as normal community service). And most, if not all, members in ICE-SAR would agree that the service should be free for whom ever needs the help (for obvious reasons). However, the issue is that up until a few years back Iceland didn't have such insane influx of tourists every year (estimates for 2015 are ~1.2 million foreign nationals. That's more than 4x the total population of the country!) and the amount of calls ICE-SAR got due to tourists where manageable (there is equipment costs, fuel and then being able to leave the office to go glacial trekking for lost souls). But now the amount of calls seem (from what I hear from friends still active) to have completely caught everyone off guard. And since we don't have an army and the police force is small and mostly tied to each town/city, there are no other alternatives than ICE-SAR. And having such a strong tradition of the government/police being able to rely on the volunteer network, it is difficult to suggest a change where someone starts paying for the work. And what most people suggest is that the government starts paying more for the use of the ICE-SAR service (or support it with more funds), since all emergency calls are directed to the state run 911-esque help line that then decides if a search & rescue operation should be initiated. But you can imagine how difficult it is to start charging for something that up to this point has been free. Just as an extra note: Currently ICE-SAR gets most of it's funds through the sales of fireworks and xmas trees (fireworks are illegal to shoot up in Iceland except during xmas holidays, ~15 Dec-10 Jan) and sales of a small key chain mascot.
  - throwaway7767 10y ago
    Great comment. Regarding the possibility of charging for the work, I'll add that there's also concern about keeping volunteers on. You're spot on that people volunteer for the company and access to fun equipment, but for many there's also the element of being a 'heroic volunteer'. Once you start charging for escorting tourists who stubbed their toes, some of that glitz is gone. Additionally, I've heard concerns from volunteers that if it's a paid service, the expectations change. Now, the volunteers can say 'no' if asked to do something they don't want to do. If it's a service that's charged for (even if it's the government putting in direct funding), the dynamics of the relationship change. If adding government money to the mix results in fewer volunteers, it's likely that the cost of the operation would go up instead of down, as they'd need to add paid rescuers. As an aside, this is similar to the issues the Tor Project has been discussing for a while. There are proposals to economically incentivize people to run exit relays. But right now, most exit relays are run at a loss to volunteers, and it's unlikely that such a scheme could actually pay for the entire cost of the infrastructure required. So what happens if you start paying, but less than the cost? It stops being altruistic, and becomes an economic calculation that does not make sense. It's likely that you'd lose a lot of the idealistic relay operators, which are exactly the ones you want to keep.
mathgenius 10y ago
I am like the worlds worst tourist. Whenever I go someplace new I end up coding in my hotel room or drinking in the local establishment, which is the summary of my five day trip to iceland in 2010. After reading this article I don't feel so bad about it.
- niij 10y ago
  Why waste the money?
  - hueving 10y ago
    The same could be said about any tourism. It's value is not measured by which checkboxes of tourist things you fill, it's whether or not you enjoyed visiting somewhere new. Drinking at the local bar in another country is a good way to get a feel for life there.
mastazi 10y ago
You would think that after such a long time Medium would have fixed this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10573027 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10573027 I mean, if you try to skim quickly through the article all you see is blurred rectangular stains EDIT: sorry for being OT, the article itself is very interesting.
xfour 10y ago
That is some amazing journalism. I learned a ton of things I never knew about Iceland, and a fair bit about what happens when Justin Beiber is filmed in your plane. Dude has to rescue tourists every single day? That's not a very sustainable solution. Hopefully a locked gate and a tourism company selling ATV tours outta help.
- lloyd-christmas 10y ago
  It's sheep country. There is a tractor preventing vehicles from accessing it, but on foot it's just 3-wire sheep fences as far as the eye can see. At a 2 hour drive from Reykjavik and a 5 mile round trip walk, it's not exactly a massive trek. I was with a bunch of city-folk and they wanted to do it. The problem is that the terrain is moon-like with grey dust/rocks in every direction and completely flat. I can see how easy it is to get disoriented in the summer, let alone when there is snow on the ground. As an aside, visiting it was the worst part of my trip. I honestly don't recommend it to anyone. 5 minutes down the road is a gorgeous waterfall you can walk up that provided infinitely more pleasure than walking 5 miles round trip through unchanging landscape. Granted, I didn't want to go in the first place, so grain of salt.
Mithaldu 10y ago
What the HDR did to this photo made me think at first that it was a fake: https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/0*siYQW-p1KCi78K9P.jpg https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/0*siYQW-p1KCi78K9P.... The edges are completely messed up.
- roywiggins 10y ago
  Somebody turned the sliders too far up (: Something about derelict places seems to invite people to turn their HDR up to 11.
- lloyd-christmas 10y ago
  From off my phone, here's a healthy dose of realism: http://i.imgur.com/VALSKcb.png http://i.imgur.com/VALSKcb.png and the surrounding landscape: http://i.imgur.com/Be9c5Nb.png http://i.imgur.com/Be9c5Nb.png
  - Mithaldu 10y ago
    Haha, i wasn't thinking anything there was fake. And thanks a lot, those shots are really beautiful. I much prefer the simple bright daylight over the shots in the article. :)
paganel 10y ago
Is that a Wartburg 353 in this photo: https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/0*L7BcV-FTlF0fu5xL.jpg https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/0*L7BcV-FTlF0fu5xL.... ? It looks like one to me, and I had no idea that they imported Wartburgs into Iceland.
- avar 10y ago
  It likely wasn't anything particularly organized. When I was growing up in the early 90s in a small fishing village in Iceland I remember that Russian ships would dock from time to time to sell hundreds of used cars from the Soviet Union. I wouldn't be surprised if this specimen arrived in Iceland like that.
INTPenis 10y ago
Amazing article, gave me chills. "The weather is about to turn." Truly these people have the utmost respect for nature and the tourists could stand to learn some of it.
- dalke 10y ago
  The joke about England is "Don't like the weather? Wait a few minutes; it will change." The response for Iceland is "Wait a few minutes; it will get worse."

202 points by bootload 10y ago

Greenland also has a pretty interesting one. The Kee Bird. There's a really cool documentary on it here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kee_Bird https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kee_Bird http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/b29-frozen.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/b29-frozen.html

shermozle 10y ago

"no country has attacked Iceland in the last 70 years" This isn't strictly true: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cod_Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cod_Wars

afarrell 10y ago
Access to cod-rich waters was something the US insisted on in the treaty of Paris that ended the revolutionary war. By "the US insisted", I mean "John Adams insisted", because he was from Massachusetts, which has an eleven-inch carved-wood cod sculpture hanging in the legislature.

alexandrerond 10y ago

Iceland makes it very explicit that emergency assistance is free of charge and that if you're in trouble, you should call without hesitation (they even have an app where you click a button and your position is transmitted to the SAR center). This policy saves lives, but unfortunately there's a tendency these days in some countries to back-charge for SAR ops when they are a result of irresponsible choices like many mentioned in the article. Thumbs up for Iceland!

Swizec 10y ago
That's what we do in Slovenian alps. Rescue is free and immediate. Just call and volunteers come get you. But if you're in trouble because of negligence or improper equipment - like hiking at 6000ft in high heels [1] - then we send you a receipt. [1] some of the stories that make it into the news are really crazy. Like a group of high school students that went on an half day hike without food or water just in their t-shirts. By the time they were rescued, after getting lost, almost all of them had hypothermia. I think criminal charges were brought against the teacher.
- Quequau 10y ago
  I'm not 100% informed on the details but when I moved to Austria, I joined the Alpenverein. I understand that part of the yearly membership dues go for providing some sort of rescue insurance. Seems like a good arrangement to me.
  - Xylakant 10y ago
    Usually the membership fee in an alpenverein includes an insurance that covers rescue/recovery costs up to a certain limit (25k in austria [1], similar in germany). There are alpenverein sections all over europe, so if you like to go climbing and hiking in the mountains, being a member is a good investment. They also take care of maintaining shelters and marking/maintaining the hiking routes. You also get a guaranteed place to sleep in the huts - though you might have to squeeze on a bench in the guest room if you're late and the place is full. [1] http://www.alpenverein.at/portal/service/mitgliedschaft/mitgliedervorteile/0100_weltweit-versichert.php?navid=971928971928 http://www.alpenverein.at/portal/service/mitgliedschaft/mitg...
- saiya-jin 10y ago
  France has free chopper rescues from, well anywhere, no questions asked (the line between uninformed decision and negligence can be pretty blurry especially if a lot of cash/criminal charges are floating around). There are cases of inexperienced climbers (one I know from Poland) where reluctance to call chopper in critical situation due to worries of costs (plus losing the face) cost 3 young guys lives. Too many like these. Chopper rescues in alps are in almost daily order (especially in winter in places like Vallee Blanche, best and longest of-piste in Europe). A friend of mine was rescued like this in Calanques next to Marseille after she broke her feet after climbing accident. Chopper was called due to inaccessible terrain, and she had a cool ride hanging from chopper by harness over Mediterranean sea.
  - snaily 10y ago
    > Vallee Blanche, best and longest of-piste in Europe Longest, by virtue of being very flat. Scenery is great, but the ride is (sometimes literally) pedestrian.
MrDresden 10y ago
I was a member of the ICE-SAR for some years (left due to my inability to be active and stay up on things during my university years). Everyone, excluding a very small group of administrative and specially trained personal, take part in ICE-SAR as volunteers. There is no pay, but you do get access to some fantastic company of people, specialized equipment and training. So it is completely worth it if you enjoy any kind of out door activity, and don't mind lending a hand when people need help (most see this as normal community service). And most, if not all, members in ICE-SAR would agree that the service should be free for whom ever needs the help (for obvious reasons). However, the issue is that up until a few years back Iceland didn't have such insane influx of tourists every year (estimates for 2015 are ~1.2 million foreign nationals. That's more than 4x the total population of the country!) and the amount of calls ICE-SAR got due to tourists where manageable (there is equipment costs, fuel and then being able to leave the office to go glacial trekking for lost souls). But now the amount of calls seem (from what I hear from friends still active) to have completely caught everyone off guard. And since we don't have an army and the police force is small and mostly tied to each town/city, there are no other alternatives than ICE-SAR. And having such a strong tradition of the government/police being able to rely on the volunteer network, it is difficult to suggest a change where someone starts paying for the work. And what most people suggest is that the government starts paying more for the use of the ICE-SAR service (or support it with more funds), since all emergency calls are directed to the state run 911-esque help line that then decides if a search & rescue operation should be initiated. But you can imagine how difficult it is to start charging for something that up to this point has been free. Just as an extra note: Currently ICE-SAR gets most of it's funds through the sales of fireworks and xmas trees (fireworks are illegal to shoot up in Iceland except during xmas holidays, ~15 Dec-10 Jan) and sales of a small key chain mascot.
- throwaway7767 10y ago
  Great comment. Regarding the possibility of charging for the work, I'll add that there's also concern about keeping volunteers on. You're spot on that people volunteer for the company and access to fun equipment, but for many there's also the element of being a 'heroic volunteer'. Once you start charging for escorting tourists who stubbed their toes, some of that glitz is gone. Additionally, I've heard concerns from volunteers that if it's a paid service, the expectations change. Now, the volunteers can say 'no' if asked to do something they don't want to do. If it's a service that's charged for (even if it's the government putting in direct funding), the dynamics of the relationship change. If adding government money to the mix results in fewer volunteers, it's likely that the cost of the operation would go up instead of down, as they'd need to add paid rescuers. As an aside, this is similar to the issues the Tor Project has been discussing for a while. There are proposals to economically incentivize people to run exit relays. But right now, most exit relays are run at a loss to volunteers, and it's unlikely that such a scheme could actually pay for the entire cost of the infrastructure required. So what happens if you start paying, but less than the cost? It stops being altruistic, and becomes an economic calculation that does not make sense. It's likely that you'd lose a lot of the idealistic relay operators, which are exactly the ones you want to keep.

mathgenius 10y ago

I am like the worlds worst tourist. Whenever I go someplace new I end up coding in my hotel room or drinking in the local establishment, which is the summary of my five day trip to iceland in 2010. After reading this article I don't feel so bad about it.

niij 10y ago
Why waste the money?
- hueving 10y ago
  The same could be said about any tourism. It's value is not measured by which checkboxes of tourist things you fill, it's whether or not you enjoyed visiting somewhere new. Drinking at the local bar in another country is a good way to get a feel for life there.

mastazi 10y ago

You would think that after such a long time Medium would have fixed this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10573027 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10573027 I mean, if you try to skim quickly through the article all you see is blurred rectangular stains EDIT: sorry for being OT, the article itself is very interesting.

xfour 10y ago

That is some amazing journalism. I learned a ton of things I never knew about Iceland, and a fair bit about what happens when Justin Beiber is filmed in your plane. Dude has to rescue tourists every single day? That's not a very sustainable solution. Hopefully a locked gate and a tourism company selling ATV tours outta help.

lloyd-christmas 10y ago
It's sheep country. There is a tractor preventing vehicles from accessing it, but on foot it's just 3-wire sheep fences as far as the eye can see. At a 2 hour drive from Reykjavik and a 5 mile round trip walk, it's not exactly a massive trek. I was with a bunch of city-folk and they wanted to do it. The problem is that the terrain is moon-like with grey dust/rocks in every direction and completely flat. I can see how easy it is to get disoriented in the summer, let alone when there is snow on the ground. As an aside, visiting it was the worst part of my trip. I honestly don't recommend it to anyone. 5 minutes down the road is a gorgeous waterfall you can walk up that provided infinitely more pleasure than walking 5 miles round trip through unchanging landscape. Granted, I didn't want to go in the first place, so grain of salt.

Mithaldu 10y ago

What the HDR did to this photo made me think at first that it was a fake: https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/0*siYQW-p1KCi78K9P.jpg https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/0*siYQW-p1KCi78K9P.... The edges are completely messed up.

roywiggins 10y ago
Somebody turned the sliders too far up (: Something about derelict places seems to invite people to turn their HDR up to 11.
lloyd-christmas 10y ago
From off my phone, here's a healthy dose of realism: http://i.imgur.com/VALSKcb.png http://i.imgur.com/VALSKcb.png and the surrounding landscape: http://i.imgur.com/Be9c5Nb.png http://i.imgur.com/Be9c5Nb.png
- Mithaldu 10y ago
  Haha, i wasn't thinking anything there was fake. And thanks a lot, those shots are really beautiful. I much prefer the simple bright daylight over the shots in the article. :)

paganel 10y ago

Is that a Wartburg 353 in this photo: https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/0*L7BcV-FTlF0fu5xL.jpg https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/0*L7BcV-FTlF0fu5xL.... ? It looks like one to me, and I had no idea that they imported Wartburgs into Iceland.

avar 10y ago
It likely wasn't anything particularly organized. When I was growing up in the early 90s in a small fishing village in Iceland I remember that Russian ships would dock from time to time to sell hundreds of used cars from the Soviet Union. I wouldn't be surprised if this specimen arrived in Iceland like that.

INTPenis 10y ago

Amazing article, gave me chills. "The weather is about to turn." Truly these people have the utmost respect for nature and the tourists could stand to learn some of it.

dalke 10y ago
The joke about England is "Don't like the weather? Wait a few minutes; it will change." The response for Iceland is "Wait a few minutes; it will get worse."