An Australian air crew has flown an American from an Antarctic base to a New Zealand hospital in a rare midwinter rescue.
The Airbus A319 Long Range aircraft, with the call sign Snowbird 1, flew from Hobart to the US McMurdo Station in Antarctica on July 31 in response to an “urgent request for assistance”, the jet’s Melbourne-based owner, Skytraders, said in a statement.
The United States Antarctic research base, McMurdo Station.AP
The jet landed after a five-hour, 30-minute flight at the Phoenix Airfield near McMurdo in darkness and temperatures as low as minus 43 degrees, the statement said.
The American was flown on the same day to Christchurch Hospital, as weather conditions at the Antarctic air strip worsened, said Skytraders, which is contracted by the Australian Antarctic Program.
The US National Science Foundation told the ABC that the patient was admitted in a “serious condition”.
New Zealand’s Health Ministry would not comment on the American’s condition or say whether they remained in hospital.
AP