Mikey McBryan, General Manager of Buffalo Airways, said he’s extremely proud of the final season of the hit documentary series “Ice Pilots NWT,” which premieres Wednesday, October 29th on HISTORY. The McBryan family and their crew at Buffalo Airways have welcomed viewers into their lives for five high-flying seasons, and the award-winning show follows them as they take vintage planes on near impossible missions, transporting people, food, fuel and vital supplies in a fleet of museum-piece aircraft to some of the most remote places on earth.
“’Ice Pilots NWT’ has been a wonderful Canadian success story. The combination of big personalities, extreme conditions and vintage planes has made for five entertaining seasons, and this sixth and final season is no exception,” said Christine Shipton, Senior Vice President of Content at Shaw Media, in a press release. “We’ve had terrific partners in Omnifilm Entertainment, Buffalo Airways and, specifically, Joe and Mikey McBryan. We’d like to thank them, and everyone else involved in making this show a success, including the tremendous fans who have followed the series from the beginning.”
McBryan seemed happy to share some anecdotes from the show recently on the heels of the final season.
CraveOnline: What can viewers expect for Season 6?
Mikey McBryan: In Season 6 everything stepped up a notch. We continued with the stories and everything people got to love, and the big thing is always dealing with 70-year-old airplanes and the cold weather. All the craziness! It’s awesome to relive it because a lot of times it’s happened a few months ago so I forget and I’m watching it with the viewers.
Why make this the last season?
It was a mutual thing. We’ve been working on the show for six years straight with very little breaks, so it was time. I’m really happy with how Season 6 turned out. And throughout the show we got to do amazing things. So we figured, let’s go out on a high note. I’m really proud of this season.
There are obviously a lot of close calls with a dangerous job like yours… any in particular that really scared you?
Yes! In Season 3 we did the damn busting episode and we were using a bomb. At that time it was pretty nuts – if you see the footage we’re dropping this bomb into the water and I was so nervous… I’m still nervous even thinking about it. I was standing on the side of a river while an airplane was coming at me and is dropping a 700-pound bomb and the camera guy is saying “get closer.”
If someone had a fear of flying, would you say that those fears are unfounded? What would you suggest that they do to get over those fears?
If anyone has any fears, they should hit them head on. Get out of your comfort zone.
What’s been the best part about being on “Ice Pilots NWT”?
The best part has been getting to meet all the awesome people [on the production crew].
And what was the most challenging thing about the show?
The most challenging thing about everything is my father… to be very honest, because I started with the producer at the beginning, I was never allowed to be a critic of the show because I was the one who had to put a smile on and tell everyone it would be okay. It’s like having a kid. If I disliked it, it would start falling apart. I always had to be pro-TV… but that was kinda neat. It’s a challenging and weird place. Ultimately it was so awesome – I would do it over again in a split second.
