Operation Arctic

Ordeal in the Arctic is a television film written by Paul F. Edwards and directed by Mark Sobel. The film stars Richard Chamberlain, Catherine Mary Stewart, Melanie Mayron, Scott Hylands and Page Fletcher. The accident that Ordeal in the Arctic depicted, occurred on October 30, 1991, when Canadian Forces Lockheed CC-130E Hercules (130322 Boxtop Flight 22), from 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron (a part of Operation Boxtop), was flying from Edmonton, Alberta via Thule Air Base, Greenland on a bi-annual resupply mission to Canadian Forces Station Alert (CFS Alert). At night, while on final approach to the airstrip, the pilot, John Couch, apparently was flying by sight rather than relying on instruments. The aircraft struck a rocky slope and crashed on Ellesmere Island, approximately 16 km (9.9 miles) short of the runway, resulting in the death of four of the 18 passengers and crew. Subsequent rescue efforts by personnel from CFS Alert, USAF personnel from Thule AB and CF personnel from 440 Squadron, CFB Edmonton, Alberta, and Trenton, Ontario, were hampered by a blizzard and local terrain. Couch died of exposure while awaiting rescue.