Helicopter was operating VFR from CYFB Iqaluit, NU to BGGH Nuuk, Greenland as part of a solo circumnavigation attempt. The pilot (Sergey Ananov from Russia) autorotated and ditched the aircraft in the Davis Strait, 204 nm east of CYFB, reportedly due to a broken drive belt. He was wearing an immersion suit and managed to take the life raft while exiting the aircraft. The aircraft sank. There was no ELT signal captured. Although there were several alerting devices on board the aircraft, the pilot only had time to retrieve the life raft before the aircraft sank. He managed to swim to a nearby ice floe. The pilot was being tracked by a responsible person. When the target had not moved for a period of 30 minutes, authorities were advised and search & rescue efforts commenced. Rescue efforts were affected by dense fog. The pilot floated on the ice floe until noticing the lights of the Coast Guard vessel 3 miles away. He fired a flare to attract attention and was rescued by helicopter approximately 32 hours after ditching. He was not injured.
CADORS 2015C2735
