Emergency Call (2024)

Twelve castaways failed to reach the lifeboats when the cargo ship Dísarfell sank between Iceland and the Faroe Islands on March 9, 1997. They were left to fend for themselves in the merciless waves of the Atlantic Ocean, amidst containers, debris, and bunker oil, hoping to be rescued. Two men died in the accident. In this first episode of "Útkall" (Emergency Call), Óttar Sveinsson talks to Ingvi Hallgrímsson and Valdimar Sigþórsson, two of the castaways, and Benóný Ásgrímsson, the helicopter pilot who rescued them.

The fishing boat Stígandi ÓF 25 from Ólafsfjörður sank in 1967 in the far north of the Arctic Ocean. There were twelve Icelanders on board, who managed to get into life rafts, where they had been for five days before they were reported missing. In this episode, Óttar talks to Bjarni Frímann Karlsson, one of the survivors.

It was a close call for the helicopter TF-LÍF during the rescue of eight men from the Danish patrol vessel Triton, as their zodiac boat capsized in stormy seas while they were on their way to Wilson Muuga, a cargo ship that had run aground near Hvalsnes. In this episode of "Útkall" (Emergency Call), Óttar talks with two members of the helicopter crew, Auðun Kristinsson and Hörður Ólafsson.

In the latest episode of "Útkall" (Emergency Call), the fourth largest aviation disaster in history is discussed, when Leifur Eiríksson, a DC-8 aircraft of Loftleiðir, crashed in the darkness and rain in a forest near Colombo, Sri Lanka, in November 1978. There were 262 people on board, including 13 Icelanders – all employees of Loftleiðir. Five of them survived. The flight was transporting Indonesian pilgrims from Mecca to their homeland. The episodes are produced by Heiðar Aðalbjörnsson.

Seven crew members were rescued when the Steindór GK 101 ran aground under the sheer cliffs at Krísuvíkurberg on February 20, 1991. The producer of "Útkall" (Emergency Call) is Heiðar Aðalbjörnsson.

On Christmas night in 1986, the Icelandic cargo ship Suðurlandið sank on its way to Murmansk. Óttar Sveinsson talks to one of the survivors, Júlíus Víðir Guðnason, in this episode of "Útkall" (Emergency Call). He and four of his colleagues survived an incredible ordeal aboard a nearly bottomless inflatable boat. The men stood in their dress clothes in sea water up to their knees, and sometimes up to their waist, for 14 hours while waiting for rescue. Six of their colleagues perished. Heiðar Aðalbjörnsson is the producer of the episodes.

Gjafar VE 300 ran aground in a storm surge outside Grindavík in February 1973. The crew members fought for their lives while courageous members of the rescue team tried to save them. In this episode of "Útkall" (Emergency Call), Óttar talks to Guðjón Rögnvaldsson, one of the shipwreck survivors, his wife Ragnheiður Einarsdóttir, and Margeir Jónsson, who was part of the rescue team. Heiðar Aðalbjörnsson is the producer of the episodes.

A fire broke out on the cargo ship Goðafoss in October 2010. At the time, the ship was caught in a storm in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. In this final episode of the series "Útkall" (Emergency Call), Óttar Sveinsson talks to Nikulás Halldórsson, the former captain of the ship, and Einar Örn Jónsson, the first officer. Heiðar Aðalbjörnsson is the producer of the episodes.