Der Polarflieger (360° - GEO Reportage)

Siberia – a land of loneliness and separation. For nine long months, winter grips the country, interrupted only by a brief, hot summer. Ice and snow, along with the tundra softening in spring, make progress in the country difficult, often almost impossible. The only way to overcome distances during this time is by flying polar planes. Andrei Gainanow has been a pilot in the Arctic Circle for 22 years. After being separated for several months, he brings, for example, children of reindeer herders back to their parents from boarding school or oil workers back to their families. "360° - The GEO Reportage" accompanies Gainanow aboard his old MI8 helicopter, with which he not only transports the passengers, but also their emotions, dreams, and hopes. A film by Wolfgang Mertin © 2004, License MedienKontor / ARTE Subscribe to wocomoTRAVEL: https://goo.gl/tIk2Qc Follow us on Facebook:   / wocomo   Press release: Andrey Gainanow is tense. The pilot is trying to find clues about the whereabouts of a reindeer herd somewhere in the endless icy desert of the Siberian tundra. Orientation is difficult: rivers and paths are no longer recognizable; everything is a single white expanse. In addition, the reindeer herders change their location almost daily. If the crew fails to locate the herd within the next 20 minutes, they will have to turn back empty-handed because there wouldn't be enough fuel for the return flight. Finally, the crew locates the herd. For the reindeer herders, this is their first encounter with visitors on their trek to the Arctic Ocean in a month. The helicopter brings spare parts for a broken radio and mail from Mischa's son at boarding school. His mother, Olga, is moved to tears. Behind the yurt, a red torch can be seen on the horizon. What's burning there is natural gas, a waste product of oil production, which is being burned senselessly and in an environmentally damaging way. Russia is now the world's leading oil producer. Andrei Gainanov and his MI8 are also helping to develop Russia's richest oil field between the Arctic Circle and the Arctic Ocean. The oil business creates jobs, but it also pollutes the environment through oil contamination – especially in Western Siberia. Leaks in the pipelines poison the tundra, and reindeer that wander near drilling rigs repeatedly become ill. Reindeer herder Volodya has lost around 60 to 70 animals this way in recent years. Although the job in the old MI8 helicopters is dangerous and strenuous, and doesn't exactly pay well, Andrei Gainanov can't imagine anything else that would fulfill him as much. Heroes, as they say in northern Russia, are not those who wear medals and badges, but those who, without much discussion, are there for others in the harshest of conditions.