Alberta rescue aircraft lands in Antarctica
CALGARY A Calgary-based plane landed at the South Pole on Tuesday amid the complete darkness and frigid temperatures of an Antarctic winter to rescue up to two people facing medical crises.
Deep winter in the Antarctic brings bitterly cold temperatures and howling winds, making any flight there perilous from February to October. The sun typically doesn’t rise at all this time of year, with the only light Tuesday coming from a nearly full moon.
At the time the rescue flight landed Tuesday, the United States’ National Weather Service recorded temperatures of -59 C, with clear skies and light winds. Because of the compacted snow on the ground and the lack of tarmac runway, the Twin Otter propeller plane had to make the landing on skis.
The flight, operated by Kenn Borek Air, took off from the Rothera research base on the Antarctic Peninsula early Tuesday morning, taking advantage of a brief window of fair weather. The 2,400-kilometre journey to the National Science Foundation’s Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station took 10 hours, officials said.
While officials aren’t releasing details on the patients needing rescue to protect their privacy, they said one person works for the Lockheed Martin Antarctic Support Contract, a company that provides operations and research support for the U.S. Antarctic Program.
NSF spokesman Peter West said they were considering evacuating a second patient, as well.
While basic medical services are available at Amundsen-Scott, home to 48 staff, surgeries and care for those in life-threatening condition are not.
Now that the Twin Otter has arrived at the South Pole, the crew will rest there for 10 hours and refuel the planes. Then, they’ll assess the weather conditions both at the Pole and at Rothera, a British Antarctic Survey base, before making the flight back.
And they have to be completely sure before leaving. Twin Otters can’t carry enough fuel to fly the planes back and forth without stopping, even with extra tanks, former Kenn Borek pilot Sean Loutitt told Postmedia. The point of no return is about four to five hours into the flight, Loutitt said.
Twin Otters are equipped for extreme cold.
It’s the third time the NSF has called in Kenn Borek to conduct Antarctic rescues.
A mission in 2001 was the first successful winter Antarctic rescue ever, with Loutitt successfully navigating -67 C darkness to save the base’s medical doctor, who needed emergency surgery for pancreatitis. Loutitt flew to the South Pole a second time in 2003 to whisk 51-year-old gallbladder patient Barry McCue to safety.
As with the past missions, a second Twin Otter is waiting at Rothera to provide search-andrescue, if needed.
The planes left Calgary on June 14, making the intercontinental trip to the South Pole through South America, crossing the ocean at Punta Arenas, Chile. The 10,000km journey took six days.
Amundsen-Scott’s research includes the history of the universe through a 10-metre telescope, dark energy, dark matter and the Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory, used to examine the subatomic particles produced by black holes.