Ellen Paneok
"I
have had to chase polar bears off the runway before I could land"
- Ellen
Paneok
Alaskan Bush Pilot Paneok would land and think …"I'm out here, on the ramp, by myself, unloading an airplane, I just chased a polar bear off the runway, where did he go? You don't know how fast someone can unload an airplane when they think a polar bear is right around the corner."
A Native American Eskimo bush pilot, she delivers supplies and US mail to remote Alaskan Eskimo villages in extreme winter weather conditions. The weather is called "20/20" - twenty below zero and twenty-knot winds.
The runways are painted hot pink in the middle so they can be seen in the blowing snow. Sometimes the visibility is the measured distance between the runway lights.