Shcheglov Anatolii
25.02.1962
Shcheglov Anatoly Ivanovich
Driver mechanic, 02/25/1962 fell into a crack on an ice dome along with a tractor
***
There are a lot of dangerous zones near the Mirny station. The glacier is covered with cracks all over. It slides down towards the ocean constantly, and the cracks continuously shift and grow several hundred metres deep. Haul trucks would often fall into those openings.
In 1963, the ninth Soviet Antarctic expedition began. During a routine scientific trip a sled train was coming back to Mirny. A tractor was hauling a balok (a cabin on rails) and a sled with equipment.
Mechanic Anatoly Scheglov and two scientists, Vladimir Tyulpin and Igor Pronin, were in the haul truck. The explorers were not novices, having wintered at Mirny and worked for a whole summer season. The train was finishing the last scores of kilometres when the radio connection was lost.
An Il-14 flew out to conduct a search. A blizzard had just died down and the sky was clear. The visibility was excellent, and the train should have been spotted at a distance of over 100 km, but it was nowhere to be seen.
Then the aviators started to descend and soon discovered fresh sled tracks, plainly visible from the 50 m height. The train passed that place after the snowstorm. In a few kilometres the trail got lost at a gaping hole. It was obvious that the tractor fell down together with everything it had in tow. There were no people in sight either.
A second plane left Mirny shortly. It had to find a safe passage for an emergency-rescue team and spent over 2 hours searching for it. Then, at low altitude, the aviators discarded empty barrels marking the path.
The next day, the rescue group was approaching the accursed crack. The Il-14 accompanied them in the sky. As they were flying down to the pit, the crew saw black smoke. They descended to the minimum height and were so close to the gap they could smell fumes in the cabin. Hope flared up; maybe someone was alive after all.
When the emergency team’s tractors reached the dangerous area, mechanics left the cabs, tied ropes to the levers and operated them remotely. In Antarctica they call it ‘pulling tractors by the reins’. That method has saved many lives.
The rescuers approached the gap, and smoke was coming out of it, indeed. The group prepared equipment and decided to go down the crack, despite the fact that they were not mountaineers.
Andrey Frolikov, the doctor for the expedition, was among the first to descend. He later recounted: ‘It wasn’t a crack, but a canyon. When we started to climb down, I saw a horrifying scene underneath. The tractor was barely visible, and the broken sled was stuck deep nearby. They were so far below they seemed to me like eggshells.’
The tractor and the heavy sled were lodged at the depth of 20 m. The mechanic Anatoly Scheglov died in the fall. The two scientists survived and were trying to warm themselves by the fire they had lit on a piece of iron. That was the smoke the aviators had seen. They were able to get the survivors out of the pit.
No one could help Anatoly Scheglov now. The fallen haul truck got caught onto the crack’s edge and was miraculously hanging over the abyss. The mechanic was crushed under the side of the cab. The rescuers did all in their power to get the body out, but it did not work. Anatoly remains in the icy grave forever.
In 1972, a list of historic sites and monuments was compiled within the Antarctic Treaty System. It contains the personal number of all the monuments on the Antarctic territory and their coordinates. The monument No. 8 (a stela made of metal and a sled) is located two kilometres from the Mirny station. The memorial plaque bears the name of Anatoly Scheglov, the mechanic who died in the course of duty.
Driver mechanic, 02/25/1962 fell into a crack on an ice dome along with a tractor
***
There are a lot of dangerous zones near the Mirny station. The glacier is covered with cracks all over. It slides down towards the ocean constantly, and the cracks continuously shift and grow several hundred metres deep. Haul trucks would often fall into those openings.
In 1963, the ninth Soviet Antarctic expedition began. During a routine scientific trip a sled train was coming back to Mirny. A tractor was hauling a balok (a cabin on rails) and a sled with equipment.
Mechanic Anatoly Scheglov and two scientists, Vladimir Tyulpin and Igor Pronin, were in the haul truck. The explorers were not novices, having wintered at Mirny and worked for a whole summer season. The train was finishing the last scores of kilometres when the radio connection was lost.
An Il-14 flew out to conduct a search. A blizzard had just died down and the sky was clear. The visibility was excellent, and the train should have been spotted at a distance of over 100 km, but it was nowhere to be seen.
Then the aviators started to descend and soon discovered fresh sled tracks, plainly visible from the 50 m height. The train passed that place after the snowstorm. In a few kilometres the trail got lost at a gaping hole. It was obvious that the tractor fell down together with everything it had in tow. There were no people in sight either.
A second plane left Mirny shortly. It had to find a safe passage for an emergency-rescue team and spent over 2 hours searching for it. Then, at low altitude, the aviators discarded empty barrels marking the path.
The next day, the rescue group was approaching the accursed crack. The Il-14 accompanied them in the sky. As they were flying down to the pit, the crew saw black smoke. They descended to the minimum height and were so close to the gap they could smell fumes in the cabin. Hope flared up; maybe someone was alive after all.
When the emergency team’s tractors reached the dangerous area, mechanics left the cabs, tied ropes to the levers and operated them remotely. In Antarctica they call it ‘pulling tractors by the reins’. That method has saved many lives.
The rescuers approached the gap, and smoke was coming out of it, indeed. The group prepared equipment and decided to go down the crack, despite the fact that they were not mountaineers.
Andrey Frolikov, the doctor for the expedition, was among the first to descend. He later recounted: ‘It wasn’t a crack, but a canyon. When we started to climb down, I saw a horrifying scene underneath. The tractor was barely visible, and the broken sled was stuck deep nearby. They were so far below they seemed to me like eggshells.’
The tractor and the heavy sled were lodged at the depth of 20 m. The mechanic Anatoly Scheglov died in the fall. The two scientists survived and were trying to warm themselves by the fire they had lit on a piece of iron. That was the smoke the aviators had seen. They were able to get the survivors out of the pit.
No one could help Anatoly Scheglov now. The fallen haul truck got caught onto the crack’s edge and was miraculously hanging over the abyss. The mechanic was crushed under the side of the cab. The rescuers did all in their power to get the body out, but it did not work. Anatoly remains in the icy grave forever.
In 1972, a list of historic sites and monuments was compiled within the Antarctic Treaty System. It contains the personal number of all the monuments on the Antarctic territory and their coordinates. The monument No. 8 (a stela made of metal and a sled) is located two kilometres from the Mirny station. The memorial plaque bears the name of Anatoly Scheglov, the mechanic who died in the course of duty.
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