New Zealand Air Force pulled off a heroic rescue of 3 Americans from Antarctica’s McMurdo Station

The Royal New Zealand Air Force has pulled off a daring mid-winter rescue from McMurdo Station in Antarctica, flying through some of the harshest conditions on Earth to save three Americans.

One of the evacuees required urgent care, while the other two also needed medical attention.

However, the cause of their simultaneous emergencies remains unclear.

With no recent public updates from America’s Office of Polar Programs, details are scarce, but the urgency was real.

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A difficult mission for the New Zealand Air Force

When the medical evacuation was requested, the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s C-130J Hercules and its Christchurch-based crew sprang into action.

However, the operation was delayed due to relentless weather delays.

Winter weather in Antarctica is notoriously unpredictable, making even short-term forecasts difficult.

When the green light finally came, the crew faced a 20-hour round trip across a continent with almost no alternate landing sites.

The challenges weren’t limited to the skies.

McMurdo Station’s Antarctic Program Winter Team had to prepare a temporary ice runway for the Hercules to land, carving it out in brutal conditions.

In the past, a special bus dubbed Ivan the Terra Bus carried passengers between McMurdo Station and the neighbouring airfield, but the bus has since been retired.

On Tuesday, the ground temperature hit -11°F, and at cruising altitude it was even colder.

If anything went wrong mid-flight, there was nowhere to divert.

Essentially, this was a one-shot mission.

Against the odds, the Hercules touched down safely on the newly made ice strip.

This was extremely impressive, given the difficulty of landing large aircraft in Antarctica.

In fact, it was only in 2021 that the first Airbus A340 managed to land on the continent.

The medical evacuees were rushed aboard while the aircraft was ‘hot refueled’, meaning its engines stayed running to minimize turnaround time.

A military medical team awaited them in Christchurch, effectively turning the giant cargo plane into the coldest, most southerly ambulance in the world.

By the time the mission wrapped up, both patients and crew were back in New Zealand, safe from the dangers of Antarctica.

The Americans are now receiving the treatment that the remote outpost simply couldn’t provide.

Not the first rescue of the year from McMurdo station

Interestingly, this isn’t the first rescue of the year from McMurdo.

Earlier this year, a 60-year-old man was evacuated after a heart attack, in a joint operation involving the Royal New Zealand Air Force, US Air Force, Wyoming Air National Guard.

When things go wrong in Antarctica, it’s often difficult to get help.

The continent is so remote that there are still significant tracks of land that hasn’t been explored by humans, and are currently being mapped by flying robots.

Hopefully, these incidents are just a streak of bad luck, and not a sign of deeper issues at the station.The post New Zealand Air Force pulled off a heroic rescue of 3 Americans from Antarctica’s McMurdo Station appeared first on Supercar Blondie.