Don Wharton
Encyclopedia
Background
Don Wharton was born Don Gordon to Howard and Millie Gordon. His father died when he was eleven years old and his mother remarried Canadian hockey player Len WhartonLen Wharton
Leonard Thomas Wharton was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played in one National Hockey League game for the New York Rangers during the 1944–45 NHL season.-External links:...
. He has been a professional musician since 1979.
He along with six others are known for surviving a plane crash into the Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
on August 13, 1993 while returning from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. He currently lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana and continues to travel extensively. In October, 2008, Don toured Shanghai, China. Don recently released his 22nd solo album titled ABUNDANTLY.
Crash and rescue
On August 13, 1993 Don and a group of six other missionaries were coming home from a mission trip to Russia. They were on a small twin engine plane over the Bering SeaBering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
near Nome, Alaska
Nome, Alaska
Nome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the...
when the engines gave out. They floated in the 36 degree water over 3 to 6 foot waves for 35–70 minutes before being rescued by helicopter. The rescue crew brought 7 body bags because no one had ever survived more than 15 minutes in that water. The last person was rescued after 70 minutes of being in the water and every single one of the group survived. Don and his group are noted for being the only survivors of a plane crash into the Bering Sea and the only survivors of water temperatures that cold. Don now tells this story when he visits different churches and groups around the country.