The magnificent man in his flying machine

The magnificent man and his flying machine.  

You have to be slightly mad to be a bush pilot, and Andri Heidberg was nothing if not eccentric. He and his Brantly helicopter were famous in Iceland during the 1970's, and he said he could land just about anywhere. We hired him for 10 hours of flying time over 3 days in August 1973, in our "NW Iceland Reconnaissance Expedition." We flitted about all over Vestfirdir (the Western Fjords), covering a vast distance and making multiple landings. The money (£500) was well spent, and were able, as a result of our observations, to plan four further seasons of fieldwork very efficiently.  

While we were in the air we really did live life on the edge, because in the wilderness there were no refuelling options, and Andri insisted that we had to carry our fuel reserves with us in the cabin, in rather leaky jerry cans. So he packed us in first, and then packed the jerry cans of aviation fuel around us. Then off we went, on each of the three days of work. The trouble was that Andri was a chain smoker, and always had a lighted cigarette hanging from his lips........... Luckily, we did not explode. Sadly, Andri died in 1978, shortly after a helicopter crash and having survived for two days in the wilderness before being rescued.

PS.  Here is an update.  Sadly, the story of what happened towards the end of Andri's life is more tragic than I appreciated.  Andri's son Jon also worked in the family business as a "bush helicopter pilot".  They had two Brantly helicopters.  There were TWO crashes with tragic consequences.  

25 April 1977: There was a tragic highland crash involving the young pilot Jón Andrason Heiðberg and his passenger, engineer Ásgeir Höskuldsson. They survived the initial Brantly helicopter crash but sadly perished from exposure while attempting to walk out. They had walked about 12 km.  Andri was naturally devastated when this happened.

The tragic 1977 helicopter crash occurred at Mælifellssandur, a vast volcanic black sand desert located just north of the Mýrdalsjökull glacier in the southern highlands of Iceland.

August 1978: The father, Andri Heiðberg, suffered his own crash in a Brantly helicopter near Eiríksjökull.  He and his passenger Asgeir Gunnarsson, survived the crash, but Andri was too badly injured to walk away from the crash site. Asgeir walked out to try and get help, and when he raised the alarm an American helicopter from Keflavik was scrambled.  The rescuers found Andri and airlifted him to hospital -- 48 hours after the accident.  So in this case both the occupants of the helicopter crash survived. 

Details: 

According to historical reports preserved in the Icelandic newspapers Morgunblaðið and Dagblaðið, his Brantly 305 helicopter suffered a sudden tail rotor failure on Monday evening, 31 July 1978, forcing an emergency crash landing in a rocky area called Álftakrók, just north of the Eiríksjökull glacier.

The details of his two-day survival ordeal and rescue include:
The Injuries: The impact was massive, destroying the helicopter. Andri suffered fractured ribs and loose vertebrae in his back, leaving him badly injured and unable to trek out of the rugged terrain on his own.

The Long Wait: He stayed with the wreckage for two days. Although he spotted several planes flying overhead, they were too high to spot him or pick up his emergency beacon.

The Walking Companion: After initially waiting with the injured pilot, Ásgeir eventually made the brave decision to hike out across the wilderness to find help. He walked for hours until he stumbled upon a vehicle and alerted the Gufunes radio station.