Hamish Harding (born 24 June 1964) is a UAE-based British businessman, pilot, explorer, and space tourist. He is the founder of Action Group and chairman of Action Aviation, an international aircraft brokerage company with headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[2][3][4]
Hamish Harding
Born
24 June 1964
Disappeared
18 June 2023 (aged 58)
North Atlantic Ocean
Nationality
British
Alma mater
Pembroke College, Cambridge (BA, MA)[1]
Occupations
Businessman
Aviator
Explorer
Known for
Crew pilot for the record-breaking flight mission, One More Orbit
Spouse
Linda Harding
Children
2
Space career
Blue Origin space tourist
Missions
Blue Origin NS-21
On 9–11 July 2019, Harding was mission director and crew pilot for the flight mission One More Orbit, which set a world speed record for the fastest circumnavigation of Earth by aircraft over both geographic poles.[4][5][6]
Harding is currently missing, having been on a submersible that went missing in the North Atlantic, while en route to view the wreckage of the Titanic, on 18 June 2023.[7]
Biography
In 2017, Harding worked with Antarctic VIP tourism company, White Desert, to introduce the first regular business jet service to the Antarctic using a Gulfstream G550, landing on Wolfs Fang Runway, an ice runway. Harding also visited the South Pole a number of times, accompanying Buzz Aldrin in 2016 as he became the oldest person to reach the South Pole (age 86).[8]
On 9–11 July 2019, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, Harding, along with Terry Virts, led a team of aviators that took the Guinness World Record for circumnavigation of the Earth via North and South Poles in a Gulfstream G650ER in 46 hours 40 minutes.[9][10] The One More Orbit mission launched and landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility (Space Florida) at NASA Kennedy Space Center, US. Harding was the mission director and led a team of over 100.
On 5 March 2021, Harding and Victor Vescovo dived to the deepest point of the Mariana Trench, the Challenger Deep at a depth of 36,000 feet (11,000 m), in a two-man submarine, setting the records for greatest length covered and greatest time spent at full ocean depth.[11][12][13][14][6]
Harding flew to space as part of the suborbital Blue Origin NS-21 mission, on 4 June 2022, on the fifth spaceflight of the New Shepard rocket.[15][16][17][18][19]
In September 2022, Harding's aviation company Action Aviation, supplied a customised Boeing 747-400 aircraft to transport eight wild cheetahs from Namibia to India to launch the reintroduction of the cheetah to India project of the Indian Government and the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia (CCF). Cheetahs had been extinct in India since independence in 1947.[20] This conservation project was designated a "flagged expedition" by the Explorers Club with club members Harding and Laurie Marker, founder of the CCF, carrying the flag on the flight to India.[21][22]
Missing Titanic submersible
Main article: 2023 Titan submersible incident
On 18 June 2023, Harding was one of five people aboard the Titan submersible operated by OceanGate, Inc. on an expedition to visit the wreckage of RMS Titanic 12,500 feet (3,800 m) below the surface of the North Atlantic. The submersible went missing after an hour and 45 minutes dive and is believed to have sufficient air reserves to last between 70 to 96 hours. As of 20 June 2023, this incident is still ongoing.[23][24]
