Italian airship designer and pilot Umberto Nobile was an  arctic explorer. He departed Kings Bay, Norway on May 22, 1928 and flew over the North Pole, but crashed.

Nine crewmembers, including Nobile, were thrown out onto an ice flow and survived. A massive search and rescue operation ensued. Famed explorer Roald Amundsen lost his life in the search. On June 23, 1928 a Swedish pilot rescued Nobile. Ultimately, the Russian icebreaker Krassin reached the ice floe and rescued the remaining survivors.  Our film reenacts the disaster, shooting in both the airship and on an in-studio ice flow. 

(1-hour. One of a series, “Great National Geographic Adventures.)