0:08

First Lieutenant Leon Crane

0:11

fumbles with the clasp of his parachute

0:13

harness, trying to get it to clip across his

0:15

chest. But his hands are

0:17

trembling, and he's wearing thick

0:20

mittens to protect against the cold

0:22

of high altitude. Through the cockpit

0:24

window, he sees the Alaskan

0:26

landscape spinning by. Glimpses

0:29

of forest, snow, and mountains

0:31

rush past as the plane corkscrews

0:33

downward. He knows he has only

0:36

minutes, maybe seconds, before

0:38

they crash. Crane

0:40

yanks hard, trying to get the buckle

0:43

to clip over his layers. He's wearing

0:45

a parka and a thick downed flight

0:47

suit. You need all of these layers

0:49

when the air outside is minus 70

0:52

degrees Fahrenheit. But buckling

0:54

a parachute harness over them is a struggle.

0:58

It's December 21st, 1943. Crane

1:02

is inside the cramped cockpit of

1:04

a B-24 bomber. He

1:06

and his four fellow crewmen are flying

1:08

over a remote stretch of Alaska

1:11

on what was supposed to be a routine

1:13

test flight. Just

1:15

moments ago, something went

1:18

horribly wrong. Crane

1:20

looks over at the pilot, 2nd Lieutenant

1:23

Harold Hoskin, who's wrestling with

1:25

the yoke, trying to level the plane. But

1:27

Crane knows it's no use.

1:30

The plane is going down, and the

1:32

only way to survive is to parachute

1:35

out. He yells to Hoskin, Hos,

1:38

we have to bail

1:38

out, now! Crane

1:40

pulls harder on the harness clasp. Still

1:43

no luck. He yanks off his mittens

1:45

and tries again. Finally,

1:49

he snaps the harness closed. He

1:51

gets up and staggers out of the cockpit.

1:54

The G-forces from the plane's death spiral

1:57

fight him with every step as he drags

1:59

himself

1:59

into the body of the plane. Crane

2:03

steps out onto a narrow catwalk, over

2:05

the bomb bay doors, which are now gaping open.

2:09

He sees one member of the crew, Master

2:11

Sergeant Richard Pompeo, standing

2:13

on the catwalk, staring down

2:15

at the ground spinning below. He's

2:18

wearing a parachute, but seems

2:20

to be frozen. He looks up at Crane,

2:22

eyes wide. Should I bail?

2:25

Jesus Christ, yes! Go! Without

2:29

another word, Pompeo jumps

2:31

through the open doors. Crane

2:33

looks around, but there's no sign

2:35

of the other crewmen, Wins and

2:38

Seibert. They must have jumped already.

2:41

Crane glances back at the cockpit, where

2:43

Hoskin is still wrestling with the controls.

2:46

Damn it, Hos! What are you waiting

2:48

for? Hoskin doesn't look

2:50

up.

2:51

Hos! Come on! Now!

2:54

Crane looks down at the snowy ground, rushing

2:57

ever closer.

2:58

They're out of time. It's

3:00

either jump now, or go down

3:03

with the plane.

3:07

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4:30

From Wondery, I'm Mike Corey and

4:33

this is Against the Odds.

4:41

In 1943, Leon

4:43

Crane, a 24-year-old co-pilot,

4:46

was stationed at Ladd Airfield, an

4:48

Army air base outside Fairbanks, Alaska.

4:51

World War II was raging and

4:53

Ladd was a testing ground for aircraft

4:56

being shipped to allies in Russia to

4:58

make sure they could withstand extreme cold.

5:01

On December 21st, Crane and four

5:03

other crewmen were on a test flight when

5:05

a mysterious mechanical failure took

5:07

the plane down. After the crash,

5:10

Crane found himself alone in the

5:12

Alaskan wilderness in the dead of winter

5:15

with no survival gear and no

5:17

rescue in sight. To save himself,

5:19

he would have to trek through the harsh Alaskan

5:22

backcountry, braving blizzards and

5:24

minus 40 degree temperatures in a

5:26

desperate search for help. This is

5:29

Episode 1, Survival

5:31

Mode.

5:39

First Lieutenant Leon Crane runs through

5:42

a tunnel beneath the tarmac of Ladd

5:44

Airfield. It's 8.30

5:46

in the morning on December 21st, 1943, and he's

5:48

late. He was supposed to report to

5:53

Hangar 1 an hour ago, but

5:56

he forgot to set his alarm. Blame

5:58

last night's post. poker game. He

6:01

hopes the pilot, 2nd Lt.

6:03

Harold Hoskin, won't be too mad.

6:06

Crane's flown just three missions with

6:08

him, so he's not sure how

6:10

Hoskin will react. The tunnels

6:12

that run under Lad Field are nothing

6:14

fancy. They're lined with wires

6:16

and pipes, illuminated by bare bulbs,

6:19

but they keep the men out of the elements.

6:22

And in this part of Alaska, that's a

6:24

godsend. Lad Field lies

6:26

about four miles east of Fairbanks.

6:29

Here, just 140 miles from the Arctic Circle, the

6:33

winter temperature sometimes drops to 40

6:35

below zero, cold enough to

6:38

cause frostbite in 10 minutes. Crane

6:41

rounds a corner and skids to a stop

6:43

in front of the Exchange, a

6:46

small general store. He ducks

6:48

inside and asks the clerk for two

6:50

boxes of matches, a peace offering

6:52

for Hoskin, who likes to smoke a pipe

6:54

on the longer flight. As

6:57

Crane slips the matches into the pocket of his

6:59

parka, he feels an envelope,

7:02

a letter from his father that arrived yesterday.

7:05

After quickly scanning it, he had stashed

7:08

it in the parka, hoping he could read

7:10

it again over breakfast. But

7:12

breakfast is for people who wake

7:14

up on time. The letter will

7:16

have to wait until after the flight. He

7:19

glances at his watch. With this stop

7:21

at the Exchange, he's now running even

7:23

later. He hurries back down the tunnel

7:26

towards Hangar 1, hoping that the matches

7:28

will buy him some goodwill with Hoskin. Leon

7:36

Crane runs across the vast hangar

7:39

toward his plane, a B-24

7:41

bomber. Lieutenant Hoskin is

7:43

leaning against the fuselage. From

7:46

this distance, Crane can't tell

7:48

if Hos, as everyone calls him, is

7:50

relaxed or annoyed. The

7:53

bomber is named the Iceberg Ines,

7:56

and it's one of the thousands of planes the

7:58

US has built to fuel the Allied war. war

8:00

machine. This one is likely

8:02

bound for Russia as part of America's

8:05

commitment to help the Soviets fight the Nazis

8:07

on the Eastern Front. Crane's task

8:10

today is to run tests to make sure

8:12

the plane is ready for combat in cold

8:14

weather. He approaches Hosk and

8:16

sheepishly, sorry I'm

8:19

late. Hosk just waves his

8:21

hand. No skin off my

8:23

nose as long as you can get the preflight done in

8:25

time because if you don't we'll take

8:27

off without you. Hosk grins and

8:29

Crane breathes a sigh of relief.

8:32

He should have known Hosk and wouldn't be wound

8:34

up over this. He doesn't let the little things

8:36

get to him. Crane starts in

8:38

his preflight duties visually inspecting

8:41

the whole plane checking the fuel loading

8:44

the parachutes. Along the way he

8:46

greets the rest of the crew. Staff

8:48

Sergeant Ralph Wens, the radio operator,

8:51

Master Sergeant Richard Pompeo,

8:53

the crew chief, and First Lieutenant James

8:56

Seibert, the propeller specialist.

8:59

Seibert looks up when he sees Crane. Hey

9:01

Crane be sure to triple check the props before

9:04

we take off. Got a feathering test today. You

9:06

got it. Feathering tests involve

9:09

adjusting the propeller blades to find the angle

9:11

that gives the least resistance to wind

9:13

flow. It's crucial for a plane's

9:15

propellers to have the correct feathering

9:17

position so it can glide properly

9:20

in case of an engine failure. Crane

9:23

wraps up his visual inspection of the

9:25

iceberg E-Ness. Officially the

9:27

B-24 is the more advanced successor

9:29

to the B-17 but to most

9:32

pilots it's just bigger and clunkier.

9:34

Some pilots call it the flying boxcar

9:37

or a joke that the B-24 is

9:39

the crate that the B-17 was shipped in compared

9:43

to older bombers. It's a behemoth 67

9:46

feet long with a 110 foot wingspan.

9:51

Once Crane has confirmed everything

9:53

is A-OK, he gives Hoskyn

9:55

a thumbs up. They're ready for take-off.

9:58

Crane

10:00

takes his co-pilot seat to the right

10:02

of Hoskin, who glances at him.

10:05

Okay, let's get rolling. I want to

10:07

be back in time for meatloaf. Crane

10:09

sets the fuel mixture for takeoff. Then

10:12

he adjusts the flaps to 20 degrees.

10:15

Hoskin pushes the throttle forward. At 9.40

10:18

a.m., the iceberg eenis rolls

10:21

through the open doors of Hangar 1 onto

10:23

the tarmac. Within seconds, it's

10:26

accelerating down the runway.

10:28

As the plane starts to climb, Crane

10:31

can see the first orange glow of

10:33

the Alaskan winter sun, just

10:35

starting to brighten the horizon.

10:43

Lieutenant Harold Hoskin angles

10:45

the B-24 toward a break in the

10:48

clouds. They've been flying for over

10:50

two hours and still haven't found

10:52

the right conditions for the feathering test.

10:55

They need clear skies, so Specialist

10:58

James Iberge can check the propellers

11:00

through a window by his station in the rear

11:02

of the plane. But there's been too

11:04

much cloud cover and too much turbulence.

11:07

Hoskin started out heading southeast

11:09

toward an area known as Big Delta,

11:12

about 60 miles from Latfield.

11:13

There's a small army airfield

11:16

there, little more than a refueling station

11:18

and a radio tower. But it's a good landmark

11:21

and Hoskin is still learning the geography

11:23

of Alaska. Flying

11:25

over the vast wilderness gives Hoskin

11:28

time to think about home. He's

11:30

a New England boy from Holton, Maine,

11:32

and his wife Mary is expecting a baby.

11:35

They're first. He and Mary exchange

11:37

letters every few days, sharing predictions

11:40

about their child's future. He wonders

11:42

what she's doing right in this moment.

11:46

Hoskin jerks himself out of his reverie. He

11:48

knows they don't have much time to find the right

11:50

conditions. The winter sun sets early

11:53

this far north at 2.41

11:55

p.m. and it's closing

11:57

in on noon. They need to run the test

11:58

while they start. have daylight.

12:01

The cloud cover is low today.

12:03

Maybe they'll have better luck at higher

12:06

altitude. Hoskin puts the plane

12:08

into a gradual corkscrew climb and

12:11

toggles the plane's internal radio.

12:13

Auction masks everyone. He

12:16

straps his own mask to his face, taking

12:19

in the smell of rubber that comes through

12:21

the hoses. At 15,000 feet,

12:24

they finally emerge from the clouds into

12:26

a clear patch of air. Hoskin

12:28

levels the plane off so they can run the first

12:30

feathering test. Crane uses

12:33

a set of controls in the cockpit to angle

12:35

the propeller blades back and forth,

12:36

while Seibert in the back makes

12:39

note of the plane's performance.

12:41

Then Hoskin takes the plane higher

12:43

to 20,000 feet and

12:45

they run the test together. They

12:47

need to see how the propellers perform at

12:49

different altitudes.

12:50

Hoskin

12:51

hears Seibert's voice

12:52

over his earphones. Looking

12:54

good at 20,000. Roger, climbing

12:57

to 25,000. Hoskin turns

13:00

the yoke and sets the plane on

13:02

a corkscrew path, ascending

13:04

slowly. They're in a column of

13:06

clear air, framed by banks

13:09

of cottony gray and white clouds.

13:12

Shafts of golden sunlight rotate

13:14

in and out of the cockpit window

13:17

on each turn. It's almost heavenly.

13:21

Then, from the corner of his eye,

13:23

Hoskin sees something on the instrument

13:25

panel. Did one of the gauges

13:28

just spike? When he looks

13:30

more closely, everything appears to

13:32

be fine. It must have been just a momentary

13:34

glitch, or maybe sunlight reflecting

13:37

off a metal gauge. Nothing to

13:38

worry about. Suddenly,

13:42

Hoskin is pinned against his seat. The

13:45

yoke wrenches his hands. The

13:47

plane banks hard, plunging into a layer

13:49

of clouds. The B-24 is losing altitude,

13:53

caught in the spin, but Hoskin

13:55

doesn't panic. They're any higher

13:58

for him to level off.

13:59

But no matter how hard he pulls

14:02

on the yoke, the plane doesn't respond. Wind

14:05

screams over the cockpit window.

14:07

Hoskin checks the flight instruments.

14:10

The speed gauge has red

14:11

lined, way past the maximum

14:13

cruising speed of 300 mph. Hoskin

14:17

can also see that one of the plane's

14:19

four engines has failed. Now

14:21

he's worried.

14:23

He white knuckles the yoke, trying

14:25

to level the plane, but the rudder won't

14:28

cooperate. The B-24 is

14:30

hard to steer in good conditions, but

14:32

now that they're in a downward spiral, the

14:34

chief forces are almost impossible

14:37

to overcome. He glances over

14:39

and sees Crain struggling at the copilot's

14:41

yoke. Hoskin rips off

14:44

his auction mask and screams, Keep

14:46

pulling! Hoskin looks back at

14:48

the panel to find that the instruments have

14:51

now frozen. What is happening

14:53

to

14:53

his plane? The

14:55

view clears as they break through the bottom

14:57

of the clouds. The same scenery

15:00

spins past the cockpit window, again

15:02

and again. Snow,

15:05

mountains, forests, snow, mountains,

15:08

forests, over and over.

15:11

Then the plane begins to level

15:13

off. Hoskin feels control

15:15

returning. His heartbeat begins

15:18

to slow.

15:18

Hold on, hold on. I think

15:21

we got her. I think we got her.

15:24

But Hoskin still holds

15:26

his breath. They may have

15:28

stopped the spin. The

15:30

plane is still going way

15:32

too fast. He checks the instruments

15:35

again. They're all dark

15:36

or locked up. He

15:39

tries to tip the nose of the plane upward to

15:41

create some wind resistance. If

15:43

we could just slow her down a little, sudden

15:46

plane jerks, and it's

15:48

no tips again towards

15:49

Earth. Uncontrolled

15:52

descent again. Hoskin and

15:54

Crane fight with the controls. Desperately

15:56

trying to turn the nose up. Then

15:59

Hoskin begins to fall.

15:59

He hears something that makes his

16:02

blood freeze, a loud snapping

16:04

sound from the tail end of the plane,

16:07

followed by cracking noises spreading

16:10

through the fuselage. Now

16:13

the rudder won't respond. Hoskin

16:16

realizes that they've lost their

16:18

last chance at saving the

16:20

plummeting aircraft. He fallows

16:22

into his

16:22

knee.

16:30

His head, Leon Crane, slaps

16:32

his mittied hand on the crash alarm. He

16:35

turns around and shouts to Pompeo,

16:37

sitting just behind him in the cockpit. Quick!

16:40

Open the Bombay doors!

16:42

Pompeo yanks the lever. Crane

16:44

feels the sting of a freezing

16:47

arctic air as it enters the cabin.

16:49

He shouts to Pompeo, who looks

16:51

caught in a moment of panic. Aaaah!

16:55

Aaaah! Pompeo struggles

16:57

to his feet

16:58

and lurches toward the back of the ship. The

17:00

plane bounces wildly. It

17:03

levels out for a moment, then dips

17:05

downward again. Crane knows

17:07

they have just minutes before impact.

17:09

He bumbles with his bearish

17:11

pluck. He yanks his best off

17:13

to get a better grip. He takes the

17:15

cold bites at his fingers and he

17:17

finally fattens the metal clasp

17:20

around his torso. And he

17:22

turns and looks at Hoskin. For

17:24

some reason, Hoskin is still in the

17:26

controls. Crane taunts on his

17:28

wife. Hoskin, we have to

17:30

bail out! Now!

17:32

Crane stands and struggles out of

17:34

the cockpit toward the back of the plane. The

17:37

force of the descent makes every step

17:39

feel like carrying a load of brick

17:41

to build. Crane glances

17:44

at the radio operator's station just

17:46

beyond the cockpit. Cher is

17:49

empty. Where's Wentz? He

17:51

couldn't have bailed out so soon. And Cyber?

17:54

Where is he? In the back,

17:57

Crane finds Pompeo. One

17:59

hand on his... or be. Asitating

18:01

on the narrow catwalk over the open

18:03

bomb bay, the snowy landscape

18:06

spins by as the plane corkscrews

18:08

downward. Pompeo turns

18:10

to Crane.

18:11

Should I bail? Jesus

18:13

Christ, yes, go!

18:16

Pompeo jumps out of the open bomb

18:18

bay. Crane looks back to the cockpit.

18:21

Damn it, Hoss! What

18:22

are you waiting for? Who is King? No! Crane

18:27

can't wait anymore for the planet. He

18:29

takes a step through the open bay doors

18:32

and is sucked out of the plane. In

18:35

an instant, his face freezes,

18:37

his lips cracking like old plastic.

18:40

With the wind chill, the temperature must be minus 100

18:42

degrees Fahrenheit. Then

18:46

he pulls the parachute's ripcord and

18:48

he's yanked from a fearsome plummet to

18:50

a slow drift downward. Crane

18:53

sees the white bloom of another parachute

18:56

drift behind a ridge at least a

18:58

mile away. He wonders if

19:01

it's Pompeo

19:02

or maybe Hoskin finally abandoned

19:04

the controls and got out. Then

19:08

he sees an unforgettable

19:10

sight. The iceberg eenas,

19:13

flames spouting from one engine, the

19:16

trail of smoke as it spirals

19:18

down.

19:23

He watches it slam into a rocky

19:26

slope covered in snow and pine

19:28

trees.

19:29

Fireball blossoms into

19:31

the air. Crane hopes

19:34

all his crewmates got out in time.

19:37

No one could have survived that.

19:40

Then it all goes

19:43

quiet, except for the

19:45

flapping of his parachute and

19:47

the icy wind. The rush

19:49

of adrenaline fades as Crane

19:51

looks down at the white expanse

19:54

below him. Endless miles of

19:56

snow and trees stretch

19:58

in all directions.

19:59

The panic he

20:01

felt moments ago drains away,

20:04

replaced by a cold sense

20:06

of dread. He scans the horizon

20:09

for any signs of civilization, but

20:12

sees nothing. No town, no

20:15

houses, not even a hut, and

20:17

no sign of his crewmates. He

20:20

is now alone in the unforgiving

20:23

Alaskan wilderness.

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sunny side up, the people at Vital Farms...

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...the Alaskan cold can freeze

21:36

fingers. He shoves his hands

21:38

into his armpits to warm them. Okay,

21:42

Crane thinks. No mittens. But

21:44

what does he have? He takes

21:46

a quick inventory of his possessions. The

21:49

good news? He has on three

21:51

layers of wool socks under a pair

21:53

of army-issue muckluck boots. Plus,

21:56

he's wearing a down, insulated flight suit

21:59

beneath a winter pad. He also

22:01

jumped with his flight helmet on. That

22:04

should keep his head warmer under his hood.

22:07

He checks his pockets. He finds

22:09

his old boy scout knife, which he

22:11

always carries with him for sentimental reasons.

22:14

It's like a Swiss Army knife with a small

22:16

blade and a few other tools. And

22:19

in a stroke of luck, he finds the

22:21

two packs of wooden matches he

22:23

picked up for Haas's pipe. At 20

22:26

matches per pack, that makes 40 chances

22:29

to light a fire. He also

22:32

has his parachute. It's made of silk,

22:35

and survival training taught him its excellent

22:37

insulation against the cold. He can

22:39

wrap himself in it like a sleeping bag

22:42

if he has to spend the night here. And

22:44

there's probably no avoiding that.

22:47

The plane was out of radio range when it went

22:49

down, so they couldn't issue a Mayday. The

22:52

base won't think anything's amiss until

22:54

the sun goes down in a few hours and

22:56

the plane hasn't returned. So it's

22:59

unlikely anyone will be looking for him

23:01

until tomorrow.

23:03

For now, he needs to make himself easy

23:06

to find when they do come for him. Crane

23:09

starts hiking up the ridge in the direction

23:11

of the downed plane. The crash site

23:13

should be easy to spot from the air. The

23:15

closer he can get to it, the better his

23:17

chances of being found. But

23:20

just after a few steps, Crane

23:22

stumbles on a rock buried in the snow. Then

23:25

another, and another. The

23:28

terrain between him and the crash must

23:30

be loose rock under all that powder.

23:32

Precarious,

23:33

uphill, and not worth the risk.

23:36

If he twists an ankle, he'll be sunk. He

23:39

turns and looks the other way into

23:42

the valley below him. About two or

23:44

three hundred yards away, he spots

23:46

a river, frozen over. That's

23:49

a better destination. The riverbank

23:51

has fewer trees, so he'll be

23:53

easy to spot. And a river means

23:56

he'll have plenty of drinking water. Crane

23:58

thinks about how to make a river. himself even easier

24:01

to spot from a search plane. An

24:03

idea springs into his head.

24:05

He'll use his boy scout knife to

24:07

cut branches off the pine trees and

24:10

use them to spell out S.O.S. on

24:12

the ground.

24:13

But how? His hands

24:15

are still jammed into his armpits for warmth.

24:17

Crane decides he'll have to expose his

24:20

hands to the cold to work, but he

24:22

can pause every few seconds to warm them.

24:25

Crane walks down toward the river until

24:27

he comes to a grove of pine trees. He

24:30

hacks at the low branches with his knife, careful

24:33

not to leave his fingers exposed for too long.

24:36

Crane has heard the stories of careless

24:38

airmen who lingered outside too long

24:41

and got frostbite. The cold blackened

24:44

and numbed their extremities. The recovery

24:46

is a painful soak in hot water,

24:49

the nerves on fire from the damage. In

24:51

extreme cases, some guys have

24:54

had their fingers and toes amputated.

24:58

An hour later, Crane has assembled

25:00

an S.O.S. sign in ten

25:02

foot letters made of tree branches. But

25:05

in the process, he cut and scratched

25:07

his fingers, and they're going numb.

25:10

He's tried wrapping them in the parachute

25:12

for insulation, but that doesn't seem to be

25:15

helping much. He turns his hands

25:17

over and examines them, trying to

25:19

assess the damage. Then

25:21

he realizes something else. The

25:24

light is fading, his sun is

25:26

already going down. This

25:28

close to the Arctic Circle, daylight

25:31

lasts only a few hours. Soon

25:33

the bitter cold of night will be upon

25:36

him.

25:37

Crane tries to reassure himself

25:39

he can get through this. He has survival

25:41

training, and he has a rational

25:44

mind. He studied engineering at

25:46

MIT and prides himself on

25:48

his ability to assess the odds in any

25:50

situation. It's how he wins at poker.

25:53

He can do it out here too. Freezing

25:55

to death is the most imminent danger.

25:58

If he's going to survive through the night...

25:59

He needs to build a fire, and quickly,

26:02

before Dorthus falls.

26:08

Crane strikes a match, and holds

26:10

the flame close to the pile of branches

26:12

and pine needles he has assembled in the snow. He

26:15

found plenty of driftwood by the river, so

26:18

he has no shortage of fuel. He's arranged

26:20

the wood into a little pyramid, like

26:22

he learned back in Boy Scouts. Now

26:25

he just has to figure out how to light

26:27

it.

26:28

Damn it! The match scorches

26:30

his fingertips, and then goes out. That

26:33

three match is gone. Is the problem

26:36

his firewood or his hands?

26:38

His fingers are numb. It feels like

26:41

they're moving in slow motion. Shoving

26:43

them into his armpits between lighting matches

26:45

has done next to nothing to warm them. He

26:47

needs the heat of a fire to restore

26:50

blood flow. If he doesn't have full

26:52

use of his hands, he's as good as

26:54

dead. Crane lights another

26:56

match, and almost fumbles it onto the

26:58

snow. He grips tighter, and

27:01

brings the small flame closer to his pile

27:03

of branches and pine needles. Maybe

27:05

this time, it goes

27:08

out again. That's four

27:10

matches gone out of forty. He can't

27:12

go on at this rate. Crane had

27:14

hoped the dry pine needles might serve

27:16

as kindling, but clearly, they're

27:19

not doing the job. He looks around, wondering

27:22

what else he can use to get the fire going. Then

27:25

it hits him. His father's letter

27:28

is still in his pocket. Crane

27:30

digs into his parka and pulls out

27:32

the crumpled paper. He had hoped to read

27:34

it again, but there's no time for

27:36

that now. He's in survival

27:38

mode. He puts the letter under the

27:41

pyramid of driftwood, on top of

27:43

the pile of pine needles. Then

27:45

he pulls a fifth match from the box.

27:47

Come on.

27:51

He lights the letter and watches

27:53

as the orange flame starts to spread

27:55

to the pine needles. He blows on

27:57

them until the needles blow orange.

27:59

After what feels like an eternity,

28:02

the orange glow turns into

28:04

a flame. It rises and curls

28:06

around the branches until finally

28:09

they catch fire. Crane sits

28:11

back and breathes a sigh of relief.

28:15

He now has a campfire. He

28:17

holds his hands close to the flames.

28:20

The warmth spreads through his aching fingers.

28:23

They prickle and throb as they come

28:25

back to life. At least now

28:27

he has a fighting chance until rescue

28:29

comes. He just wonders how

28:32

long that will be. He looks

28:34

at the darkening sky, hoping against

28:36

hope to see the blinking light of a rescue

28:39

plane. What? All he

28:41

sees

28:41

are stars.

28:49

Major R.C. Ragle

28:52

looks over the map on his desk and

28:54

rubs his eyes. It's 1900

28:56

hours, 7pm, nearly 8

28:59

hours since the last radio contact

29:01

from a B-24 bomber called Iceberg

29:04

Ines. That

29:06

was at 1108 this morning, about 10

29:09

miles east of Big Delta.

29:11

Since then, silence.

29:13

Military aircraft go out of radio

29:16

range all of the time, but contact

29:18

is usually re-established when they've turned

29:21

back to base.

29:22

If this were the European or Pacific

29:24

theater, Ragle would assume the

29:26

plane was lost to enemy fire. But

29:29

here in Alaska, if a plane goes

29:31

down, it's probably due to weather.

29:34

It happens at least once every couple

29:36

weeks. The cold and the winds

29:39

can wreak havoc on aircraft systems.

29:41

That's part of the reason they test them here

29:44

in the icy north. If these aircraft

29:46

can function in the Alaskan cold,

29:48

they can function almost anywhere. And

29:51

if the Iceberg

29:52

Ines had catastrophic mechanical

29:54

failure, Ragle hopes the crew either

29:57

bailed out in time or they were able

29:59

to bring the plane down.

29:59

down safely somewhere in the wilderness.

30:02

Either way, he hopes a search party can

30:04

spot them from the air. The weather right

30:07

now is terrible near Lad,

30:09

with snow squalls and heavy ground

30:11

fog. Not ideal for finding

30:13

a downed plane. Ragle

30:16

considers what to do. He

30:18

knows the number one rule of search and rescue.

30:21

You don't want to turn one tragedy into

30:23

two. Sending planes out at night

30:26

in this kind of weather could be begging

30:28

for more disaster. But Ragle

30:30

would never leave men in the field to die.

30:33

These are his brothers in arms, and he

30:35

will not abandon them.

30:37

A sergeant knocks on his open door. Major,

30:40

it's been eight hours. Eight hours

30:43

since last radio contact is

30:45

the army's designated length of time before

30:48

a plane is declared missing and the

30:50

search can begin. Ragle

30:52

sits forward in his chair and tugs

30:54

on his shirt. Time to mobilize.

30:57

Even at night, in bad conditions, there's

30:59

still a chance they could spot a burning wreck

31:01

from the air. Ragle hands a list

31:03

of pilots and planes to the sergeant. Notify

31:06

the pilots and prep

31:07

the aircraft. Their last known location

31:10

was close to Big Delta. We'll start

31:12

there. The sergeant salutes

31:15

and turns to leave. And Ragle

31:17

settles in for a very long

31:20

night.

31:33

Leon Crane peeks out from under

31:36

his parachute and sees that his

31:38

fire is dwindling. The

31:40

flames are flickering lower as

31:42

the pine branches slowly burn down to embers.

31:45

He needs to rekindle it quickly. If

31:47

it goes out, he's probably done

31:49

for. But this is the coldest

31:52

night yet, and he's reluctant to

31:54

leave the warm cocoon of the

31:56

silk parachute. It's been three days.

31:59

since the iceberg Ines went

32:02

down. That was on December

32:04

21st, which makes tonight Christmas

32:07

Eve. Back at Lad Airfield,

32:09

the men will be downing another helping of Turkey,

32:12

raising another glass and missing

32:15

their families back home. Crane

32:17

is Jewish, and Christmas never

32:19

meant much to his family. He thinks of

32:22

what his father often said, Leave

32:24

Christmas to the Christians. We've got

32:26

our own holidays. At the thought of

32:28

his parents, Crane feels

32:29

a lump in his chest. How

32:32

long before they're notified he's officially

32:34

missing? His mother is tough, but

32:36

he knows that the news will make her sick with

32:38

worry. His father will try to be

32:40

reassuring, and she'll pretend

32:43

everything is okay.

32:44

But both of them will wonder if her

32:46

son is dead.

32:48

Which he will be if he

32:50

doesn't get this fire going again. He

32:53

extracts himself from the parachute as quickly

32:55

as he can. The cold stings

32:58

at his fingers and his face as he grabs

33:00

a piece of driftwood from the pile. It

33:02

slips from his fingers onto the ground, but

33:04

he picks it up and tosses it onto the fire.

33:07

He tosses another, just to be safe. Then

33:10

Crane bundles himself back into his silk

33:12

cocoon before the cold can seep

33:15

further into his bones.

33:17

As he watches the fire burn brighter,

33:20

he remembers that tonight is also

33:22

the third night of Hanukkah, the

33:24

Festival of Lights. Crane isn't

33:26

particularly religious, but he

33:29

takes a moment to thank God for

33:31

this light, the campfire that's

33:33

keeping him alive.

33:35

Then he lets himself fantasize

33:37

for a moment about Christmas dinner back

33:40

at the base.

33:41

Roast turkey,

33:42

chestnut stuffing, mashed

33:44

potatoes, plum pudding with

33:47

brandy sauce. Hunger

33:49

has begun to gnaw at him and he

33:51

marvels at how vividly he can

33:53

remember all the flavors. Merry

33:56

Christmas,

33:56

he thinks, as he watches

33:59

the wood burn. and hopes he'll

34:01

live to celebrate the new year.

34:09

The recon pilot looks out his cockpit

34:11

window as he passes over Big Delta

34:14

on his way eastward. Below, he can

34:16

see the small army airfield and

34:19

the juncture where the frozen Tannana

34:21

and Delta rivers meet. But there's

34:23

no trace of the iceberg Ines, the

34:25

B-24 bomber that went missing

34:28

six days ago. The pilot

34:30

and his crew have flown search missions

34:33

every day since the bomber and its five-man

34:35

crew were reported missing. It's

34:38

an all too common procedure at

34:40

Ladfield. Hardly, a week

34:42

goes by without a plane going down somewhere

34:45

in the wilderness. Sometimes they

34:47

easily spot the wreck and find the crew

34:49

camped out next to it. Other times,

34:52

they find nothing. So far,

34:55

this has been one of those times.

34:57

Their only tools are their eyes

35:00

and a map. Snowstorms and

35:02

fog have hampered their vision, and

35:04

high winds have meant they couldn't risk being

35:06

out any longer than necessary. Every

35:09

day, back at base, the recon

35:11

pilot writes his findings on a report

35:14

that's sent to Major Ragle's office. The

35:16

report is always the same.

35:18

Results

35:19

negative.

35:21

Today, the weather is cooperating

35:23

with only a few clouds dotting the blue

35:25

of late December sky. They started

35:28

the search in the area just east of

35:30

Big Delta, the iceberg Ines'

35:33

last known location. Then they

35:35

circled outward, checking the ground for

35:37

hundreds of miles in every direction. A

35:39

fellow pilot once said these missions

35:42

were like trying to find a button on

35:44

a football field. But the B-24 is

35:47

a big plane, and it should be easier

35:49

than most to spot from the air. But

35:51

now, here they are on

35:54

day six, and he knows the longer

35:56

the search goes on, the less likely

35:58

that anyone who may have

35:59

The crash has also survived

36:02

the cold. If there's still no

36:04

sign by tomorrow, day seven,

36:07

they'll call off the search. That's

36:10

Army regulations, a matter of

36:12

balancing the risk to the search crews against

36:15

the diminishing chance of finding

36:17

anyone alive.

36:19

The pilot circles around and scans

36:21

the ground. No glint of metal, no

36:24

sign of a crash site. But wait,

36:26

is that something shiny? He banks the plane

36:29

to get a better view.

36:29

No,

36:31

it's just sunlight reflecting off

36:34

a frozen pond. He's starting

36:36

to doubt the plane went down anywhere near

36:38

this area at all. But

36:40

all he can do is follow orders.

36:43

He flies on, hoping he'll get

36:45

lucky this time. But he suspects

36:47

that tonight he'll once again write

36:49

the same word. This report

36:52

results negative.

37:00

Leon Crane crouches down

37:02

and holds his breath, trying desperately

37:05

to stay silent. In one hand,

37:08

he holds a long, thick piece of driftwood,

37:11

a club picked especially for this

37:13

purpose.

37:14

A few feet away, digging in

37:16

the snow, he sees his target,

37:19

a small red-tailed squirrel, oblivious

37:22

to its future as Crane's dinner.

37:25

At least, that's what Crane is hoping. It's

37:29

afternoon on December 28th, and

37:31

Crane hasn't eaten in seven

37:33

days. The only thing in his stomach

37:36

is the water he's drunk from the river that

37:38

seeps up from the cracks in the ice. Once

37:41

early on, he tried swallowing a muddy

37:43

chunk of moss he found under the snow,

37:45

but he gagged and coughed

37:47

it up. Now he is literally

37:50

starving. Crane watches the

37:53

squirrel gnaw on a piece of pinecone,

37:55

then scratch at its ear. The squirrel's

37:58

ear are completely un-acoustic.

37:59

afraid of him. He's probably the first

38:02

human they've ever seen. That's why

38:04

he's hoping he can get close enough to this one

38:06

before it realizes he's a threat.

38:09

Crane inches closer and lifts

38:12

his driftwood club. The squirrel

38:14

stops and looks up,

38:16

sensing Crane's movement. Crane

38:19

freezes. The squirrel pauses

38:21

a moment longer,

38:23

then turns its attention back to the pine

38:25

cone. Crane pulls back

38:27

his arm and swings the club. But

38:30

instantly, the squirrel scampers away

38:32

and raises up a tree.

38:34

Damn it.

38:35

Crane curses under his breath. If

38:38

he's going to catch one of these critters, he

38:40

needs a more sophisticated weapon. He

38:43

collects a couple smaller branches from the ground.

38:45

Using his boy scout knife, he files

38:48

one of them into a sharp pointed arrow.

38:51

Then he cuts a length of rubber parachute

38:53

cord and strings up a makeshift

38:55

bow from the other branch. He

38:57

plucks the parachute cord and

38:59

it makes a satisfying twang sound.

39:02

Not bad. Time to test

39:05

it out. Crane crouches

39:07

and waits.

39:09

He doesn't have to wait long. Soon,

39:12

another squirrel crawls out on a nearby

39:14

branch, its bushy tail waving.

39:17

Crane raises the bow, draws

39:19

back the arrow, and the

39:23

arrow misses by a country mile, spinning

39:26

off into the snow as the squirrel scurries

39:29

away.

39:30

Crane screams to the high heavens.

39:33

Ah, why can't you give me a break?

39:36

He's not in danger of starving

39:38

to death. At least not yet.

39:41

But he knows the signs from his survival

39:43

training. First, the body burns

39:45

its fat reserves, which makes it harder

39:47

to stay warm. Then, when the fat

39:49

stores are depleted, the body burns

39:52

its muscle tissue. He'll start to grow

39:54

weaker and less able to fend

39:56

for himself in the wilderness.

39:58

Worst of all, his judgment will

40:00

start to falter. He'll start making

40:02

dumb decisions, dumber even than

40:04

trying to kill a squirrel with a tree

40:06

branch. And he has to face

40:09

another grim reality. He knows

40:11

that searches for missing planes are

40:13

called off after seven days. And

40:16

it's now been seven days since

40:19

the crash. The army will

40:21

simply list him as missing and

40:23

move on.

40:24

There is no rescue coming.

40:27

If he stays here, he will surely

40:29

die. His only recourse is

40:31

to hike to civilization. He can

40:33

either head down the river and hope he runs

40:36

into some trappers or a hunter's cabin.

40:39

Or he can head toward Big Delta

40:41

and the small airbase there. He

40:43

knows his plane went down roughly

40:45

east of it and he can use

40:47

the sun to navigate during daylight

40:49

hours. Crane weighs

40:52

his odds and makes a decision.

40:54

At first light tomorrow, he'll pack

40:56

up and trek west, hoping

40:58

he can reach Big Delta before starvation

41:01

leaves him two weeks to continue. Better

41:04

to head toward the certainty of the airbase

41:06

than simply hoping to run into help

41:09

along the river. He figures that

41:11

this is his best chance for

41:13

survival.

41:21

Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to Against the

41:24

Odds ad-free on Amazon Music.

41:26

Download the Amazon Music app today.

41:29

Or you can listen ad-free with Wondery Plus

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in Apple Podcasts. Before you go,

41:33

tell us about yourself by completing a short survey

41:35

at wondery.com slash

41:38

survey.

41:45

This is Episode 1 of our

41:48

three-part series, Alone in

41:50

the Alaska Wilderness. A

41:52

quick note about our scenes. In most

41:54

cases, we can't exactly know what was

41:56

said, but everything is based on historical

41:59

research.

41:59

If you'd like to learn more about this event, we

42:02

highly recommend the book 81 Days Below

42:04

Zero by Brian Murphy. I'm

42:06

your host, Mike Corey. Eric

42:09

Truhart wrote this episode. Our editor

42:11

is Steve Fennessy. Script consulting

42:14

by Brian Murphy. Sound design

42:16

and Dolby Atmos mix by Outhouse

42:18

Audio. Audio engineer is

42:20

Sergio Enriquez. Coordinating producer

42:23

is Desi Blaylock. Produced by Emily

42:25

Frost and Alita Rozensky. Managing

42:27

producer is Matt Gantt. Senior

42:30

managing producer is Ryan Lawer. Senior

42:32

producer is Andy Herman. Executive

42:34

producers are Jenny Lower Beckman, Stephanie

42:37

Jens and Marshall Louis for

42:39

Wondery.