Seaplane Crash: Flipped Upside Down

In May 2025, a hardworking Dutch couple book an extended holiday to Canada. Désirée and Marko Kruithof hope to reconnect and take some time to plan the next phase of their lives, now their children have left home. But all plans are thrown out the window when, just days into their holiday, the seaplane they’ve booked for a sightseeing trip crashes off the coast of British Columbia. Trapped upside down inside the flooded cabin, the clock is ticking. And even if they can free themselves, a final sting in the tail awaits… A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. Written by Heléna Lewis | Produced by Ed Baranski | Assistant Producer: Luke Lonergan | Additional script editing: Joe Viner | Exec produced by Joel Duddell | Sound Supervisor: Matt Peaty | Sound design by Jacob Booth | Assembly edit by Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Ralph Tittley. For ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions If you have an amazing survival story of your own that you’d like to put forward for the show, let us know. Drop us an email at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:03John Hopkins?

  It's just after 6:30 PM on Monday the 19th of May 2025.

• 0:09John Hopkins?

  A pale, milky sky above western Canada is streaked with clouds, broken occasionally by slanted shafts of sunlight. In British Columbia, nestled between Vancouver Island and the rugged coast of the mainland, a handful of smaller, sparsely inhabited land masses lie scattered like discarded jigsaw pieces across the cold, grey sea. The air is crisp and cool, a glassy surface of the water flat and undisturbed.

• 0:37John Hopkins?

  Then, a sound breaks the quiet: the low drone of an engine. Soaring over this pretty patchwork of land and water is a small, red-and-white sea plane, moving with surprise and grace despite its bulky landing floats.

• 0:55John Hopkins?

  Inside, Desiree and Marco Krutov, a Dutch couple in their 50s, drink in the beautiful scenery sprawling out below them as their pilot indicates various points of interest.

• 1:07John Hopkins?

  In the seat beside the pilot, Desiree's right hand fidgets in her lap, whilst the fingertips of her left hand dig nervously into the back of the pilot's seat. She's trying to relax and enjoy the trip, but a ripple of unease is running through her.

• 1:23Speaker 01

  I was scared. I put my arm around the chair of the pilot, and I know that I was telling myself, "Don't squeeze too much."

• 1:36John Hopkins?

  About 10 minutes into the flight, the pilot gestures towards the first landing point on their journey: a small bay known as Refuge Cove on West Redonda Island. Shortly afterwards, he begins their descent.

• 1:51John Hopkins?

  In the back of the cabin, Marco is filming the entire experience on his phone, keen to record this memorable trip.

• 1:59John Hopkins?

  As it turns out, it's about to become very memorable, but for all the wrong reasons.

• 2:05Speaker 02

  Down, down, we touched the water, and the first touch was very hard. What I thought is, "Come on, pilot, you can do better." That's a little bit clumsy of you.

• 2:18John Hopkins?

  The aircraft lurches as the floats strike the water with a fierce smack, the impact reverberating through the small cabin. At the same moment, a gust of wind seems to come from nowhere, yanking the plane back up and disrupting its delicate equilibrium.

• 2:34John Hopkins?

  Knuckles white, the pilot tries to restabilize the craft, his face grim with concentration. The engine winds as he applies full power, trying to guide the plane into the air again so he can circle back and attempt another landing. But even as he wrestles with the controls, the floats slap against the water once more and the aircraft bounces, making everyone's stomach somersault. With increasing desperation, the pilot tries to regain command of the small seaplane. But it's no use. Seconds later, the aircraft collides with the water for a third and final time, suddenly tilting as its left wing cleaves the smooth surface of the sea.

• 3:17John Hopkins?

  There is no coming back from it.

• 3:20Speaker 01

  I saw the wing hitting the water. And at that moment, the pilot yelled something and then we were flipping over and I was telling to myself, "This can't be real."

• 3:38John Hopkins?

  Ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes? If your life depended on your next decision, could you make the right choice? Welcome to Real Survival Stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations, people suddenly forced to fight for their lives.

• 3:58John Hopkins?

  In this episode, we meet Marco and Desiree Krutov. In May 2025, the hard-working Dutch couple booked an extended holiday to Canada. They hope to reconnect with each other and to take some time to decide what the next phase of their lives should look like now that their children have left home.

• 4:16John Hopkins?

  But all plans are thrown out of the window. When, just days into their holiday, the seaplane they've booked for a sightseeing trip crashes into the icy waters of the coast of British Columbia.

• 4:26Speaker 02

  When he touched the water again, I thought, "Stop the plane, this is not so good." And then I heard that he screamed, and I didn't know what he said, but I heard the scream, and then he flipped over.

• 4:42John Hopkins?

  Trapped inside the flooded cabin of the small plane, Desiree and Marco must work together to escape the swiftly sinking wreckage before they run out of air or are overcome by the freezing temperature of the water. The strength of their union will be pushed to the limit as they desperately try to make it out alive.

• 5:00Speaker 01

  When you are in the water, you have to keep moving because otherwise you are being soon very cold and then you will drown. You can stay four or five minutes in the water, not longer, because the water was also four or five degrees.

• 5:15John Hopkins?

  The rapid countdown to escape is on. And even if they can free themselves, another totally unforeseeable challenge lies ahead. A final sting in the tail awaits. I'm John Hopkins. From the Noiser Podcast Network, this is Real Survival Stories.

• 5:58John Hopkins?

  It's the morning of Monday, the 19th of May, 2025, on the eastern shores of Vancouver Island, Canada. In a large car park near the coastal city of Campbell River, a couple in their 50s exit an RV camper van. They make their way towards a small, unassuming building overlooking the water. The woman's blond, shoulder-length hair flies around her face as she walks, ruffled by a salty sea breeze. Her movements are tinged with apprehension, but her husband has a noticeable spring in his step. He looks up towards the arcing sky above them, where the occasional small plane cuts a trail through the clouds.

• 6:38John Hopkins?

  Sensing his wife's unease as they near the building, he takes her hand and reassures her quietly in Dutch.

• 6:46John Hopkins?

  This is Marco and Desiree Krutov, on their way to the ticket office of a seaplane tour operator.

• 6:54John Hopkins?

  Today, they have booked a unique sightseeing trip onboard one of the planes that delivers post to these sparsely populated discovery islands, sandwiched between Vancouver Island and the mainland.

• 7:06John Hopkins?

  The journey will offer wonderful views of the Canadian landscape and will also give the tourists the chance to explore some of these tiny, remote communities.

• 7:16John Hopkins?

  But as soon as they step inside the ticket office, it becomes clear that there's a problem.

• 7:22John Hopkins?

  The staff greet them with startled, confused faces. And when Marco and Desiree look around, they see five other people sitting in the waiting room. The plane can only carry six passengers.

• 7:36Speaker 01

  So they talk with each other behind the desk and, well, there was a mistake. One of the employees did give us the confirmation number, but never put it in the agenda. So we were overbooked. They told us, "Well, one of you can go." And Marco told me, "Well, you can go." And I said immediately, "I'm not going without you. We are going together, or we are not going at all."

• 8:01John Hopkins?

  Seeing Desiree and Marco's reluctance to be separated, staff offered to book them on another flight the following day.

• 8:09John Hopkins?

  But the couple have a very strict holiday schedule, and they don't want to change their plans. Eventually, they are offered a private flight later that evening in recompense for their mistake.

• 8:21John Hopkins?

  Marco and Desiree look at each other. This is only the third day of their month-long road trip through Canada. It's not exactly an auspicious start.

• 8:31Speaker 02

  There was two struggles because she had all the time and bad feeling about this trip. And honestly, I had a very good feeling about this trip, and I would like to go. This was one of the highlights. So there was a little bit friction between each other about she would like to skip the plane trip. And for me, it was a must-go, a must-do. And the second struggle was, of course, they changed the plan. We go in the late afternoon, around 6 o'clock. Can we manage that in our schedule?

• 9:08John Hopkins?

  After working out that they can indeed squeeze the later trip into their timetable, Marco turns his attention to the other stumbling block.

• 9:16John Hopkins?

  He tries to assuage his wife's uneasiness, reminding her what an amazing experience it will be.

• 9:23John Hopkins?

  Despite her concerns, Marco's enthusiasm is infectious, and his arguments persuasive.

• 9:30John Hopkins?

  For the couple, this isn't an unusual interaction. They've been together for nearly forty years now, and the dynamic hasn't changed much during that time.

• 9:39Speaker 02

  Love on first sight, we are really different. She's more quiet, she's the observer, she's more the stability, and I'm more the pusher. I always want to achieve more. Come on, you can do it, you can do more, and that's all our life.

• 9:58Speaker 01

  I was fifteen and Marco was seventeen. We went to a bar, and there we met each other. We had the same friends, so we had a drink with each other, and, well, I think it took a week. And then we were a couple, and we still are.

• 10:14John Hopkins?

  Though they are very different in many ways, Desiree and Marco exemplify the idea that opposites attract.

• 10:21Speaker 01

  He's very warm, he's very kind, he's also very clear. So when he thinks something, he tells you if you like it or not, but he always means the best.

• 10:34Speaker 02

  She's a really observer, and she always places herself in the shadow. And I would like that she stand up and get more sunshine from her surrounding. She has really an ear for everyone, and she can chat and have a good conversation with everyone, but she forgot herself also to talk about herself.

• 11:06John Hopkins?

  This October on the Noiser Podcast Network, Real Dictators returns. We're in the Dominican Republic for the story of Rafael Trujillo. On Short History Of, we'll uncover the secrets of the Hoover Dam and follow Mary Shelley, the creator of Frankenstein and his monster. On Real Survival Stories, a modern Viking adventure as a replica Norse vessel embarks on a daring voyage across the North Sea and a man is struck blind, all alone, at the very top of the world. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews and in Sherlock Holmes Short Stories, Holmes and Watson unpick an epic mystery of hidden treasure and murder in The Sign of Four. Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free

• 11:51John Hopkins?

  on Noiser Plus.

• 11:57John Hopkins?

  After getting married young, the couple went on to have a daughter, Deanna, and a son, Robin. With a family of their own to care for, they focused on work and raising their children. In time, Desiree started her own counselling business and Marco rose to become a project director for a grid operator. The days were long, but the years passed quickly and together Marco and Desiree built a good life.

• 12:21Speaker 01

  We were working and raising our children like most people do and we had a very happy life with the children and the years were passing and the children were growing up until we were at the point where we are now that the children are starting their own lives and the two of us being together again and so we have to make a few decisions about the future.

• 12:49John Hopkins?

  Once their children flew the nest, Marco and Desiree started discussing what the next decade or two might look like. It was a big conversation, one that wasn't always easy to have amid the hubbub of day-to-day life. Maybe what they needed was a holiday, an opportunity for the space and time to really reconnect and talk about their future together.

• 13:10Speaker 02

  We both struggled the last few years about how it's gonna look like in the next 15 years. So the holiday in Canada was really for the great nature, but also for the good conversation, to look forward for the coming 15 years, to have a hike with each other, but also the conversation about what do you want, what do I want? How do we transform that, etc.

• 13:45John Hopkins?

  Having both nursed a long-held desire to visit Canada, the couple decide to hire an RV and spend a month or so driving around the country. Marco, the planner, arranged everything, including booking tickets for a unique seaplane trip around the Discovery Islands.

• 14:02John Hopkins?

  After landing in Canada, the adventure began in earnest. They wasted no time in getting out on the road.

• 14:09John Hopkins?

  And now, having arrived at the seaplane operator's offices, the couple are ready for their appointed flight.

• 14:16John Hopkins?

  But it's here that Desiree's enthusiasm starts to wane as the reality of what they've signed up for sinks in.

• 14:23Speaker 02

  We saw that of the float planes and then she said, "No, is it really what you want?" That's scary. And we saw them flying, of course, in Vancouver, you see them everywhere. But that was the point that she starts to share her bad feeling. And I was thinking, "Oh, come on, we must do this. This is so amazing. Go to five islands to see communities, to bring the post, to be in contact with all the people, to see the bears, the whales, etc."

• 14:57John Hopkins?

  Desiree eyes the seaplanes warily. But ultimately, Marco's line of reasoning prevails. Isn't this what they came to Canada for, after all? To see the country in all its spectacular glory? It would be a shame to back out now.

• 15:16John Hopkins?

  And so the couple agree to the proposed change of schedule. With several hours to kill until takeoff, they watch the other seaplanes come and go, and get chatting to one of the pilots.

• 15:28John Hopkins?

  The conversation gives Desiree the chance to ask some questions about safety that have been bothering her. However, the answers aren't all that reassuring.

• 15:39John Hopkins?

  The pilot explains that accidents are of course rare, but if these types of planes do crash, they tend to flip over, leaving passengers very little time to extricate themselves from the wreckage.

• 15:51Speaker 01

  He told us about how long you can survive in the water, and when you are in the water, that you have to keep moving, because otherwise you are being very soon very cold, and yeah, then you will drown. So he told us you can stay four or five minutes in the water, not longer, because the water was also four or five degrees. It did make me nervous, of course it did.

• 16:16John Hopkins?

  Finally, around 6:30 PM, it's time.

• 16:20John Hopkins?

  Wrapped in lightweight wind jackets, Marco and Desiree head out across the jetty to the small plane, bobbing on the water like a large flightless bird.

• 16:31John Hopkins?

  Before boarding, they are handed life vests. By the time Desiree has secured her life jacket, her husband is already ensconced in the back of the plane, determined that his wife should take the seat up front, next to the pilot.

• 16:44Speaker 02

  She was a little bit afraid, and I directly thought, come on, you must sit in the front. There you have a better position, better overview, maybe a little bit less flight sickness, but also be more comfortable. But she always want to go in the rear, so when we walked to the airplane, I was faster and sit in the back, now you sit in the front.

• 17:11John Hopkins?

  Her heart flattering, Desiree climbs up the metal rungs of the plane. Her breath catches as the lightweight aircraft bobs and sways with the movement.

• 17:22John Hopkins?

  Inside the cabin, she takes her seat to the right of the pilot, and he adjusts her chair to give her more room, sliding it back as far as it will go. Then he begins preparations for takeoff.

• 17:34John Hopkins?

  However, before they are airborne, Desiree has one final question for him.

• 17:40Speaker 01

  He didn't tell me how I could open the door. And there I was very nervous about because in the morning, they were telling everything, how you can survive in the water. But if you can't open the door, you don't get out of the plane. So I asked the pilot, how do I open the door if we have a crash? Well, he left a little bit and he said, well, okay, there's the handle and you have to pull the handle. And I know that I wanted to ask, do I have to pull the handle to the left or to the right? And then I said to myself, get hold of yourself.

• 18:16John Hopkins?

  Palms sweating, Desiree takes a deep breath as the plane judders into life and taxis along the smooth surface of the water.

• 18:24John Hopkins?

  Her shoulders tense as the aircraft picks up speed, the roar of the engine magnified inside the cramped cabin.

• 18:32John Hopkins?

  And then they become weightless as the plane rises into the air and the water falls away below them.

• 18:40John Hopkins?

  In the back, Marco presses his phone to the glass of the window, filming the spectacular view, keen to capture the memory of this amazing trip with his wife. They soar over a stunning tapestry of forest and rock, interspersed with grey-blue channels of water that thread between the verdant islands like veins.

• 19:00John Hopkins?

  As they fly, the pilot gives them a running commentary about the islands below, his words crackling through the radio system.

• 19:08John Hopkins?

  Despite her unease, Desiree can't help but be entranced by the beautiful scenery spreading out beneath them.

• 19:16John Hopkins?

  As the minutes pass, some of the tension starts to melt from her body.

• 19:20Speaker 01

  It was so beautiful. It really was. It was so beautiful. The pilot was telling everything about the people that were living on the islands and really it was amazing. And then he flew us into a little bay. And then he told, well, this is the first place that we are going to land.

• 19:38John Hopkins?

  The pilot points down to a small horseshoe-shaped bay called Refuge Cove and explains that he is going to fly over it before circling back to land.

• 19:47John Hopkins?

  Desiree and Marco stare down at the glassy surface of the water as the plane tilts and turns. Then the pilot begins the descent.

• 19:57Speaker 02

  And the water was really flat, maybe a little bit too flat. But that I have learned later, when it is too flat, you can't see where the wind comes from. We now, we come down, down, we touch the water, and the first touch was very hard. What I thought is, come on pilot, you can do better. That's a little bit clumsy of you.

• 20:21John Hopkins?

  The plane's float slams down against the sea, making water spray up and splash against the wind. At the exact same moment, a gust of wind grips the small plane and jerks it upwards, back into the air, destabilizing the lightweight craft's fragile balance.

• 20:39John Hopkins?

  Desiree's hand tightens on the back of the pilot's seat, her nerves jangling as the aircraft wobbles. The pilot focuses on recalibrating the plane. He applies full power to the small engine, trying to pull up so he can attempt another landing.

• 20:54Speaker 01

  He was a little bit mumbling himself, and I was thinking he was pulling up again. But there was also very much noise, and the noise was, I didn't realize at that point, he was trying to get up again because we were hitting the water too hard and the drivers were too deep in the water.

• 21:13John Hopkins?

  The plane judders and shakes as the pilot tries to coax it back up. But within seconds, it collides with the water once again. The pilot has lost control. Desiree and Marco do what they can to brace themselves. The aircraft hits the water for a third time, sending a hard, shuddering jolt through its framework.

• 21:34Speaker 02

  And by the third time, when he touched the water again, I thought, stop the plane, this can't be so good.

• 21:42John Hopkins?

  A heartbeat later, the plane's left wing slices through the silky surface of the sea, sending spumes of water spraying into the air. The pilot yells something unintelligible, his voice hoarse. Glass shatters and metal crumples as the plane lurches. And a second later, the world is turned upside down.

• 22:03Speaker 01

  I saw the wing hitting the water. And at that moment, the pilot yelled something, and then we were flipping over. And I was telling to myself, this can't be real.

• 22:24John Hopkins?

  This October, on the Noiser Podcast Network, Real Dictators returns. We're in the Dominican Republic for the story of Rafael Trujillo. On Short History Of, we'll uncover the secrets of the Hoover Dam and follow Mary Shelley, the creator of Frankenstein and his monster. On Real Survival Stories, a modern Viking adventure as a replica Norse vessel embarks on a daring voyage across the North Sea, and a man is struck blind, all alone, at the very top of the world. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews, and in Sherlock Holmes Short Stories, Holmes and Watson unpick an epic mystery of hidden treasure and murder in The Sign of Four.

• 23:07John Hopkins?

  Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus.

• 23:18John Hopkins?

  It is the evening of May the 19th, 2025. In the frigid waters that separate Vancouver Island from the west coast of the Canadian mainland, a small sea plane bobs upside down, its left wing crushed and mangled by its recent crash.

• 23:35John Hopkins?

  Inside the wreckage, the cabin has already flooded with seawater. It's viciously cold, only a few degrees above freezing. And there, still strapped into their seats, three motionless figures dangle upside down.

• 23:51John Hopkins?

  At first, there's no telling if any of them have survived the impact, their limbs bob weakly underwater. But then the woman seated next to the pilot suddenly moves, a stream of bubbles dispersing from her mouth. She blinks, confused and bewildered, having been knocked out by the force of the crash. Then everything comes streaming back.

• 24:13Speaker 01

  The next thing I can remember is that I'm in the water. It was completely beautiful blue, and I didn't feel cold or anything. I just saw the water. So I tried to get my seatbelt off. It went off. And what I, at that point, found very strange was that I was falling over, but we were upside down. I didn't realise that at that point.

• 24:40John Hopkins?

  After freeing herself from her belt, she tumbles through the water and thuds against the upturned ceiling of the fuselage. Disorientated, she reaches out her arms and starts groping her way through the dark, submerged cabin, trying to find a door. Slowly, she moves through the cramped space, the air in her lungs rapidly depleting. She only has a matter of seconds to escape.

• 25:06Speaker 01

  I was turning around, and I know that I didn't have any air, not much. And I went to the door, to the handle, and I was pulling it right and left because I didn't know which way I should pull it, and it didn't move.

• 25:22John Hopkins?

  Desiree wrestles with the handle, trying to yank it this way and that, her movements becoming increasingly frantic. But the door doesn't budge. Her chest grows tight as she heaves on the handle, and dark spots begin swimming at the edge of her vision.

• 25:38Speaker 01

  I didn't have much oxygen left, and I turned around and I was thinking, the only thing I can do is to kick the door open. I realized I didn't have the oxygen, but I was very calm, so there was no panic or anything like that. And also, there was a little bit of unbelief. I think that's the right word in English. This is not real. So there was something in me that told me I'm going to survive this, because the only thing I knew, I had to kick the door open because if I couldn't get out, maybe Marco could.

• 26:15John Hopkins?

  Unsure of Marco's condition after the crash, Desiree clings to the hope that even if she can't make it out of the aircraft, perhaps she can save her husband.

• 26:25John Hopkins?

  With her lungs screaming for air, she uses her last shred of strength to lunge at the door, kicking it with all her might. She feels it give beneath her feet, but it's just a second too late.

• 26:38Speaker 01

  I think it moved, but that's the last thing I can remember. And then it went dark. Everything goes so fast. And people tell then, it looks like your life is passing through your mind, and it does. I had that. I was thinking of my children, I was thinking of my family, I was thinking of my friends. Of course, I was thinking of my husband, but my children, yeah, they were the most what was going through my mind, because they are very precious to me.

• 27:07John Hopkins?

  Desiree floats, unconscious in the water, only inches from the now-opened door, just a fraction too late to escape.

• 27:17John Hopkins?

  Meanwhile, in his seat at the back of the aircraft, Marco has finally come to, after being knocked unconscious by the crash.

• 27:25John Hopkins?

  As chance would have it, he has recently completed offshore safety training in his work for a grid operator, during which he learnt how to escape from a downed helicopter.

• 27:36Speaker 02

  So, in a really huge swimming pool, with waves, with wind, I stepped in a cabin, and there, they dropped me in the water and trained me how I must rescue myself. But also, always when I come in a room, I always look to the emergency door. I always look to an escape route. And is that necessary? No. But that all was very, very, very helpful.

• 28:09John Hopkins?

  Thanks to a combination of training and natural instinct, Marco is able to stay calm.

• 28:16John Hopkins?

  He reaches for his belt, fumbling to undo it. Still dazed, still hanging upside down, his fingers feel clumsy, and it takes him several attempts to free himself.

• 28:27John Hopkins?

  Eventually, though, it gives way, and he immediately plummets through the water. He hits the ceiling of the plane, then pushes upwards. In a moment of immense good fortune, he emerges into a tiny, remaining air pocket.

• 28:43John Hopkins?

  The aircraft is flooding fast, and the pocket is quickly disappearing. But it gives him just enough time to take some much-needed breaths.

• 28:51Speaker 02

  I also recognised directly, I have one attempt to go out. So, I take some air, not enough, but okay. Tried to swim to the front, but that was, for me, the bad direction.

• 29:07John Hopkins?

  Disorientated, with limited visibility, Marco accidentally swims the wrong way, into the back of the plane. Quickly, he turns back and flounders his way through the cramped cabin, then catches sight of the open door.

• 29:21John Hopkins?

  Perhaps his wife has already made it out safely and is waiting for him at the surface. With renewed energy, Marco swims towards the door, his exit route now clear.

• 29:31John Hopkins?

  But then he sees something that chills his blood.

• 29:35Speaker 02

  And there, for me, was that really traumatic. I saw my wife, and my wife was hanging there in the plane. And luckily, she opened the door, but at that moment, I didn't recognize that. I saw an hole to go outside, and immediately, I took her with me.

• 29:59John Hopkins?

  With a strength born of desperation and adrenaline, Marco pulls his wife through the door of the plane and kicks his way up to the surface. His head breaks the water, and he takes a much-needed gasp of cold air. His eyes lock on his wife's pale, bloodless face.

• 30:20Speaker 02

  That was for me traumatic because I'm the pusher. I would like to go to the float plane trip, and now my wife is dead. Come on, stupid guy. What do you want in your life? Push your wife to this kind of accidents? So I blame myself a lot.

• 30:42John Hopkins?

  Eyes shut, skin pallid. For a moment, it seems it's already too late.

• 30:49John Hopkins?

  And then, blessedly, Desiree coughs, splutters, and her eyes blink open.

• 30:54Speaker 02

  I took her up, and she started breathing. So that was one of my biggest relief ever in my life.

• 31:03Speaker 01

  When Marco was pulling me up, and when my head is out of the water, I took a breath. I'm not sure how, but I did it. And that was the moment I was conscious immediately.

• 31:16John Hopkins?

  Relief surges through Marco, and he holds Desiree tight. But the freezing water is assaulting their bones. They'd been warned that you only have a few minutes in water this cold. And what's more, not everybody is out of the plane. The pilot hasn't surfaced yet.

• 31:35John Hopkins?

  After ensuring his wife is okay, Marco prepares to dive back under and search for him.

• 31:41John Hopkins?

  But then, just before he can disappear back beneath the water, the pilot's head surfaces next to the wreckage.

• 31:48Speaker 02

  That was my second release, all right? Now we all are alive. That's the most important thing. And I know the water is very cold, but you don't feel anything. And you are so calm and so your instinct to survive. I could walk over water.

• 32:07John Hopkins?

  The pilot splashes over towards Desiree and Marco and reminds them to blow their life jackets up, something each has forgotten in the chaos of trying to escape the plane.

• 32:16John Hopkins?

  With their vests inflated, Marco scans their surroundings and sees, in the far distance, a number of small boats approaching, piloted by locals who saw the crash.

• 32:28John Hopkins?

  Help is on the way. But the boats are too far away for the survivors to stay still. The icy water is quickly sapping their strength. Desiree, Marco and the pilot are reaching the limits of what they can endure before their bodies shut down. Rescue may not reach them in time. An intense discussion ensues about what to do. Desiree suggests swimming towards the shore. Their pilot wants them to huddle together in the water. Marco insists they all scramble onto the wreckage of the plane. It doesn't take long for Marco to win the argument.

• 33:02Speaker 01

  If Marco wants something, he mostly it happens. So Marco was the winner of our tree and he put us on the plane. And he tried to put me higher so I would be out of the water.

• 33:15John Hopkins?

  Desiree clings to the slippery surface of the aircraft's wreckage, shivering, her wet clothes plastered to her skin. She's shaken, but at least she's out of the dangerously cold water. Just behind her, Marco and the pilot scramble up to join her on the upturned plane. And as they do, a new and terrifying sensation takes hold of Desiree.

• 33:39Speaker 01

  And in the moment that I was on there, he and the pilot climb on it. And at that point, I realised that I wasn't getting any oxygen.

• 33:48John Hopkins?

  Desiree tries to clear her throat. Perhaps she swallowed too much seawater when she was unconscious. She coughs and attempts to inhale, but she can't. It's as if there is a blockage in her windpipe, preventing her from breathing.

• 34:03John Hopkins?

  Something is very wrong.

• 34:04Speaker 01

  I tried to control my breathing, but I didn't get any oxygen. So I pulled Marco and I said, I can't breathe.

• 34:16John Hopkins?

  This October, on the Noiser Podcast Network. Real Dictators returns. We're in the Dominican Republic for the story of Rafael Trujillo. On Short History Of, we'll uncover the secrets of the Hoover Dam and follow Mary Shelley, the creator of Frankenstein and his monster. On Real Survival Stories, a modern Viking adventure as a replica Norse vessel embarks on a daring voyage across the North Sea. And a man is struck blind, all alone, at the very top of the world.

• 34:47John Hopkins?

  In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews. And in Sherlock Holmes Short Stories, Holmes and Watson unpick an epic mystery of hidden treasure and murder in The Sign of Four. Get all of these shows and more early and ad free on Noiser Plus.

• 35:07John Hopkins?

  Panic rises in Marco's face as his wife begins choking in front of him. Her chest heaves and her eyes water as she attempts to gulp air without success. He glances down at her neck, pulsing and throbbing with the effort of trying to breathe. Then, in a flash, he reaches towards her, his fingers closing on something at her throat. He pulls.

• 35:31John Hopkins?

  Suddenly Desiree gasps and her lungs inflate. Relief and oxygen flooding through her body. Unbeknownst to her, the cord from the headset she was wearing in the plane had become wrapped around her neck, impeding her airflow.

• 35:46Speaker 01

  My headphone was over my throat and it was pulling my throat together. So I couldn't breathe because there was really something. I was choking. But I didn't realise, because she has so much adrenaline and stress. So Marco pulled it away and I could breathe again. So, okay. At that point, the boats were arriving. And I remember Marco was yelling, "My wife first, my wife first."

• 36:14John Hopkins?

  Locals who witnessed the crash have arrived in small boats. Initially, there is confusion. Since these float planes usually carry six passengers plus the pilot, the sight of just three survivors naturally leads to the assumption that there have been fatalities or that there are still others beneath the water.

• 36:32John Hopkins?

  Desiree, Marco and the pilot assure their rescuers that this is not the case.

• 36:37John Hopkins?

  They are then quickly helped onto one of the vessels. With everyone out of the water, the boat heads back to the shore a few hundred metres away.

• 36:46John Hopkins?

  Though Desiree and Marco are bruised, shaken and shocked, they appear to be in better shape than the pilot, who hit his head hard on the front window during the collision.

• 36:56John Hopkins?

  It turns out that by moving Desiree's chair backwards before taking off, he probably helped save her life, as she was prevented from hitting her own head at full force.

• 37:07John Hopkins?

  Despite everything that has happened, they have made it out and Marco's spirits somehow remain high.

• 37:13Speaker 02

  At that moment, for me, the accident was happened. Tomorrow, we can continue our journey in Canada. How crazy can you think after so extreme accidents? And still thinking about, alright, what a surprise, what an accident. But tomorrow in our RV, we go further with our holiday. And that was what I really thought.

• 37:39John Hopkins?

  After arriving on land, the three survivors are taken to a small shelter and given dry clothes, as well as basic medical attention whilst they wait for the coastguard to arrive.

• 37:48Speaker 01

  We were sitting there in our underwear and we didn't care, we didn't even realise at that point. So they started to give us a little bit sweaters and warm kind of things, and they're starting to check us out. We had bruises, we had scratches, we had bloods, we had broken ribs, and that was the most painful for us.

• 38:09John Hopkins?

  Within thirty minutes, the coastguard shows up. Alongside their medical equipment, they have also brought body bags. Evidently, the message that everyone survived the crash has not been passed on.

• 38:21Speaker 02

  For us, it was really an eye-opener, so what's happened to us is really special, that we survived really as a team, because I'm so proud of Desiree that she opened the door and get loose of her belt. So that was really a huge wake-up call that they came with body bags, and I was in the dream, tomorrow I will continue to journey our holiday.

• 38:52Speaker 01

  Most of the time, people die at this kind of pressures, and that was the first moment I realised that, because I was in the survival mode and then I realised, oh my god, we could have been dead. And that was very painful.

• 39:08John Hopkins?

  Desiree, Marco and the pilot board a coastguard vessel and set off towards Vancouver Island to receive proper medical treatment. And it's during this journey that the couple turn to each other and talk about what just happened.

• 39:22Speaker 02

  In the boat, we had a discussion with one of the rescuers about body bags, etc., what we have done, that's not normal, so that's extraordinary what we have done. I had a feeling of superpower. I said, "Come on, we can survive everything. Our marriage, no, a float plane can't destroy our marriage."

• 39:46John Hopkins?

  After arriving at the harbour, the pilot is immediately transferred to an ambulance and taken to hospital. But for Marco and Desiree, things aren't quite as simple.

• 39:57Speaker 01

  The guy from the ambulance told me: "Can I have your credit card?" So I was thinking, "My credit card..." "Okay, well, the credit card is in my husband's phone." But Marco was filming during the crash, and he lost his phone, so the phone was on the plane, somewhere in the ocean. So we didn't have a credit card. And then he said: "Well, if you don't have a credit card, we can't take you to the hospital."

• 40:21John Hopkins?

  Instead, a waiting police car offers to give Marco and Desiree a lift. However, when they finally reach the hospital, they face the same problem and are refused treatment.

• 40:33John Hopkins?

  Left with few other options, the frustrated couple eventually decide to return to their RV.

• 40:41Speaker 02

  We arrived in our RV, lay on bed, and five minutes later, we looked at each other: "Can you sleep now?" "The pain will slowly increase, really slowly."

• 40:54Speaker 01

  Yeah, we couldn't sleep, we had so much stress. And after, I think, two hours, I realized I had travel insurance. And I said, "Well, maybe we should call the travel insurance." So we did that. And they told us immediately to call 911 and go back to the hospital, because, yeah, we didn't really think of it, but we could have had internal bleeding or anything like that.

• 41:17John Hopkins?

  Eventually, they managed to get an ambulance to take them back to the hospital. It takes the insurance company more than an hour to sort out the paperwork over the phone, but in the early hours of the morning, Desiree and Marco are finally seen by medics.

• 41:32John Hopkins?

  They are checked over and given x-rays. By the time the results are in, the sun has already risen.

• 41:38Speaker 01

  I had two broken ribs, and Marco has one. And because I was hitting with my head the dashboard and I had a pain on my head, they decided also to make, not an x-ray, but a picture of my head to see if there's anything wrong. And when the doctor came out, he told us: "We found something, there's nothing broke, there's nothing from the air crash, but we found something in your throat. Did you smoke?"

• 42:06John Hopkins?

  Surprised, Desiree informs them she has never smoked in her life. She is told there is a four-centimeter mass in her throat, but that if she doesn't smoke, then it isn't anything serious. She and Marco can carry on with their trip. Exhausted from their ordeal, the couple return to their RV to get some rest and start processing everything that has happened in the last 24 hours.

• 42:31John Hopkins?

  Later, however, the conversation with the medic comes back to them, and they decide to send the hospital report to their doctor back home in the Netherlands. Shortly afterwards, the phone rings.

• 42:44Speaker 02

  I got a phone call back from the hospital, from the cancer center, and they told me, or asked, "This is really serious. You have to come back." And then it's in five seconds, you have decided, "All right,

• 43:01Speaker 02

  you have to go back. This is serious."

• 43:04John Hopkins?

  Within days, the couple are back in the Netherlands, where Desiree is diagnosed with throat cancer. It transpires the reason she couldn't breathe with the headset wire wrapped around her throat was because it was pressing on the tumor and blocking her airway.

• 43:20John Hopkins?

  Though the crash was traumatic, it may also have saved her life.

• 43:24Speaker 01

  If the plane crash didn't happen, I'm not sure when I found out I had throat cancer, and I'm not sure if then they could solve it. So we also call it a little bit of a miracle.

• 43:40John Hopkins?

  Alongside cancer treatment, Desiree and Marco also start a type of psychotherapy known as EMDR to try and come to terms with the accident. EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, a remarkable technique that involves moving your eyes in specific ways whilst processing traumatic memories. It is a proven method that can help with, among other things, PTSD.

• 44:07John Hopkins?

  In September, just a handful of months after the crash, the couple briefly returned to Canada, where they revisit the site of the crash and meet their rescuers and the pilot.

• 44:16Speaker 02

  It is so helpful to speak again with your rescue people, to speak again with the owner of the company, to speak with the pilot, to speak with the Coast Guard members, to see them, to laugh with them, to cry with them. And that was in September. At the end of September, we had our last sessions with EMDR. And that is also the moment that we both can say that the accident, the trauma, make us stronger. But the journey is really heavy.

• 44:53Speaker 01

  I think our perspective of life has changed completely. We realise how delicate life is, that if that goes a little bit wrong, you can lose someone or you can lose your life. So we have decided to make sure we have more time with the family, with the children, and more time for each other.

• 45:14Speaker 02

  You realise so strongly what is really important in life. To have quality time together, to be really in touch, to have quality time with your kids, with friends, is not related to money or to all the things that you have. So my perspective on life has changed a lot.

• 45:38John Hopkins?

  What started as a journey to reconnect and talk about their future has led unintentionally to a whole lot more.

• 45:47Speaker 02

  Please reflect to yourself what is really important. And take your time for that simple question, what is really important? And my insight after a traumatic accident is that what is really important, not all the materials I have. No, what really is important is my own health, my wife, my children, and help each other and have really enough quality time for each other, in good times and in bad times. Stand next to each other.

• 46:36John Hopkins?

  In the next episode, we meet 31-year-old Les Morlan. In November 1985, Les, a mechanic at a gold mine in the mountains of Colorado, is racing to complete some essential construction work before a blizzard rolls in. While keeping one eye on the approaching storm, he and his colleague Jack are operating a mechanical loader when they are caught off-guard by something that no forecast could have predicted: a devastating natural disaster that descends on the mine where the two men are working. They will become separated, and Les will be left buried, upside-down, beneath 50 feet of compacted snow and ice.

• 47:16John Hopkins?

  Disorientated, running out of oxygen, and with nobody around to help, he will have to claw his way to the surface. In more ways than one, he will have to dig deep.

• 47:27John Hopkins?

  That's next time on Real Survival Stories. Listen today without waiting and without ads by joining Noiser Plus.

• 47:36John Hopkins?

  This October, on the Noiser Podcast Network, Real Dictators returns. We're in the Dominican Republic for the story of Rafael Trujillo. On Short History of, we'll uncover the secrets of the Hoover Dam and follow Mary Shelley, the creator of Frankenstein and his monster. On Real Survival Stories, a modern Viking adventure as a replica Norse vessel embarks on a daring voyage across the North Sea, and a man is struck blind, all alone, at the very top of the world. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews, and in Sherlock Holmes Short Stories, Holmes and Watson unpick an epic mystery of hidden treasure and murder in The Sign of Four.

• 48:18John Hopkins?

  Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus.