Lost explorer ‘didn’t need rescuing’
THE helicopter pilot who airlifted Benedict Allen from the jungle of Papua New Guinea has played down the explorer’s ordeal, saying: ‘He didn’t really need rescuing.’
Craig Rose said the TV adventurer had been well cared for by tribespeople and appeared to be in no danger when he was found. To the surprise of the crew, Allen filmed himself and the helicopter as it circled a remote mountain airstrip where he was waiting to be picked up on Friday.
‘He appeared with his arms up,’ said Mr Rose. ‘He had a video camera. I have no idea how he kept the batteries going all that time out there.’ The crew waited for an hour as the explorer posed for pictures with villagers before his evacuation. ‘He was lapping it up,’ added the pilot.
Yesterday, as Allen was in hospital in Papua New Guinea where he is understood to be undergoing malaria treatment, Mr Rose said the flight was a commercial arrangement rather than a rescue.
His comments follow speculation that the disappearance was a PR stunt, which Allen’s agent has strongly denied.
The explorer, whose career has been punctuated by nine neardeath experiences, tweeted before setting off in October: ‘Don’t try to rescue me please – where I’m going in PNG you won’t ever find me.’
His agent raised the alarm on Sunday after the TV adventurer failed to turn up in Port Moresby for a flight to Hong Kong.