An Inuit hunter who spent three nights stranded on an ice floe drifting in the Northwest Passage was rescued Monday afternoon.
"He was cold and tired but otherwise in good health," said Pierre Bolduc of the Canadian Search and Rescue Centre.
After two previous failed attempts, Daniel Idlout of Resolute, Nunavut, was plucked off the ice at about 2:30 p.m. by rescuers in a Cormorant helicopter.
A crowd of well-wishers greeted Idlout as he landed in the northern hamlet.
"There were lots of people there," said Const. Ted Munro of Resolute RCMP. "The mayor was there as well as friends and well-wishers from the community.
"He is currently safe and sound and home with his family."
Idlout became stranded when he was hunting Friday near the edge of the sea ice and a large chunk broke off underneath him.
Idlout, who was carrying a satellite phone, was able to contact his wife.
He was also carrying a light source, which enabled a Hercules airplane to find him in the Arctic dark at about 10:30 p.m. Friday. The Hercules dropped supplies including food, water, a tent, extra clothing, fuel for his stove and a locator beacon.
However, the helicopter that would rescue him was initially unable to take off due to mechanical problems.
A second supply-laden Hercules dropped him more equipment later Saturday.
Another rescue attempt by a Cormorant helicopter with a crew of five from Canadian Forces Base Greenwood, N.S., was stymied on Sunday by brutal weather conditions with high winds and snow. That crew eventually made the pickup on Monday.
He had drifted about 40 kilometres east into the Northwest Passage by the time he was rescued.
18:12ET 25-01-10
(Via Land-Line Feed)