The World - News from May 16, 1989

Rescue aircraft, taking advantage of a break in a severe Arctic snowstorm, managed to land at the North Pole where eight explorers had been briefly stranded. The team, led by Robert Swan of Britain, reached the roof of the world after a 600-mile, 56-day journey. The rescue planes flew the explorers to their base at Eureka on Ellesmere Island on their way home. Because of poor weather conditions, the three Twin Otter aircraft had been unable to pick up the group as scheduled, and all of the team members suffered frostbite on their feet and faces. Members of the expedition, launched to draw attention to global pollution, planted a U.N. flag at the North Pole on Sunday, organizers of the Icewalk organization said.