Airways, headed by the noted arctic flyer and explorer Carl Ben Eielson, to fly out furs and crew members. After one successful round trip, Eielson was delayed by a search for a downed plane in Alaska. Resuming after the delay, Eielson and his mechanic Frank Borland flew into a fierce storm over the Siberian coast and crashed, flying into terrain with the throttle wide open. A faulty altimeter may have been a contributing factor. A major search ensued, using both aircraft (American, Canadian, and Soviet) and dogsleds. The fate of both the plane and the ship (with a high-school girl aboard) captured the public's imagination. The New York Times arranged for Marion Swenson to send regular dispatches on the progress of the search. The downed plane was found January 24, 1930, by Joe Crossan and Harold Gillam, and the first body was discovered February 13 by Soviet searchers from the ship Stavropol, Mavriky Slepnyov, and Joe Crossan. Gillam arrived in the evening and identified Borland. Four days later the body of Eielson was found. Swenson and his daughter were flown out February 7 by T.M. (Pat) Reid. The Nanuk returned successfully to Nome and then Seattle, arriving in early August 1930. Sled dogs Swenson is sometimes erroneously credited with introducing the Siberian Husky to the United States. He was an enthusiastic dogsledder who regularly used sled dogs in his work and made at least two long treks. He wrote about selecting dogs for enthusiasm and stamina and about the characteristics of a good lead dog. It is not clear whether Swenson's favorite lead dog Billkoff ever reached the United States. There were Siberian sled dogs in Alaska since 1908 and the early importers are known. Swenson imported Chukchi dogs for Leonhard Seppala in 1927 and for Seppala's collaborator Elizabeth (Peg) Ricker in 1930. These dogs are believed to have been the last Siberian sled dogs exported for many years. The Ricker dogs were used a working team by the crew of the Nanuk in 1929-30. Death Swenson died August 23, 1938 (age 54) in Seattle of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The reports in the New York Times and the Polar Times mentioned the possibility of an accident while cleaning the newly purchased gun.<ref>New York Times, August 25, 1938</ref> Writings Four short nonfiction pieces by Olaf Swenson in Blue Book magazine 1938-39 are listed in a web database.Northwest of the World