Successful Antarctica medical evacuation flight during final sunset

The flight arrived in Christchurch last night after the round trip to Antarctica, safely bringing home the patient needing higher medical attention. 

On Wednesday afternoon No. 40 Squadron received the request for a medical evacuation from Antarctica’s McMurdo Station. 

Weather conditions for flying to the frozen continent were suitable for the flight to leave Christchurch just before 5am yesterday, landing about the time of the last sunrise of the season at midday. They left about 2pm in twilight after the final sunset, returning to New Zealand about 9pm.

Air Component Commander Air Commodore Andy Scott said even though the aircrew arrived during the last couple of daylight hours, any flight to the ice has its challenges.

“At this time of the year there are very narrow windows of favourable weather conditions, so the crew threaded the needle between weather systems and dwindling daylight to land at the Phoenix Airfield on the Ross Ice Shelf, near McMurdo Station. 

“For the crew to be able to see the final sunrise and sunset before the winter darkness set in, was a pretty special moment for them. And safely bringing home a person in need of medical help, was extremely satisfying.”

C-130J-30 Hercules co-pilot Flight Lieutenant Aaron Kurte said they were lucky with the weather and views on the flight in were “stunning”. 

“There are also challenges though. In those low light conditions it is difficult to discern between the ground and the horizon. When we were coming into land there are none of the visual references we would normally be able to rely on.”

However, having daylight to land in was far preferable than flying to Antarctica during the dark winter months, Flight Lieutenant Kurte said.

“Everyone felt really lucky that we managed to complete the flight yesterday. When you have to fly in full-time night, it gets a lot trickier with managing the weather and needing to use night vision goggles.”

Air loadmaster Sergeant Emma Porritt said the mission began at 2am yesterday with pre-flight work and loading the medical supplies on board. Once they had landed on the ice, the team needed to “hot-refuel”, which involved refuelling the aircraft with the engines still running to keep the C-130J warm.

“It was about in -33˚C and in the extreme temperatures everything wants to freeze, lock up and seize. There are also a lot of considerations around fuelling the aircraft with flammable fuel and having the engines running.

“But loading the patient went smoothly and the medics made sure they were comfortable on a stretcher for the flight home.”

Seeing the final sunset was a special moment for Sergeant Porritt.

“Normally we would go down when there are polar days, or polar nights in winter. It was cool to catch the shoulder season. There were lovely soft pink and orange hues to see.” 

Detachment Commander Squadron Leader Adam Palmer said it was the second medical evacuation flight for the C-130J Hercules, following a successful winter one last August. 

“The difference between this mission and the one we did in August was they were still able to fly in the light, so the timing was perfect considering the slim window at this time of the year.” 

The next time Scott Base and McMurdo Station will start to see proper sunlight again is August 19.