I saw this guy's R22 @ Port Angeles, Washington 27-June-2015! He was traveling "Around the globe". I was returning from Alaska in the Scout.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34281218

Holy shit!! What a story!

He's probably right about most folks that go down in those waters are not heard from again. Seeing how small the SPOT and Delorme InReach sat trackers are, I would definitely have put one on my survival suit before heading out over the North Atlantic! That is some miserably unforgiving water! The bears are just icing on a very lousy cake.

Awesome story! It makes me want to go fly like a maniac!

Must have been a horrible feeling being forced to descend down though that cloud deck knowing that Tahiti was definitely not down there .Pretty dang lucky with the outcome on that one .

The R22 helicopter was in front of http://ritebros.com Rite Bros Aviation, in June 2015. Looked like it was being flown monumentally over designed gross weight. Ferry tanks etc. were installed as seen in the above picture. Caught my attention. Never thought I would read about it on BBC.

The fact he survived is amazing. He was pretty well prepared.

BTW http://ritebros.com is a great little FBO. Courtesy vans/cars and excellent personal service. U.S. Customs was quick and easy too.

Also, saw a bunch of "War Birds" in perfect flying condition. Picture from an iPAD while my aircraft sat in the "Customs Box", KCLM.

Not a lot of traffic KCLM. Olympic National Park in the background: