Posted on 08/07/2025 12:54:32 PM PDT by Red Badger
An emergency medical situation prompted a demanding mid-winter evacuation from the United States’ McMurdo Station in Antarctica, officials said this week.
The evacuation was officially made by representatives with the United States’ National Science Foundation over concerns that medical care could not be administered to Americans stationed in Antarctica, including one individual who reportedly required “urgent medical care” and two others in need of medical attention.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) successfully carried out a challenging emergency evacuation using one of its C-130J Hercules aircraft, according to a statement released on Wednesday.
Citing extreme temperatures and rapidly changing weather, landing on the southernmost continent was made even more treacherous by the current Antarctic winter conditions, which include 24-hour darkness and very icy conditions, according to Air Component Commander Air Commodore Andy Scott.
Scott called the recent successful evacuation one of the most difficult flights the RNZAF can undertake and required the U.S. Antarctic Program Winter Team to physically establish a runway to facilitate a safe landing and departure amid such frigid winter conditions.
“The crew can only attempt the flight after detailed analysis of the weather and airfield state,” Scott said on Wednesday.
“Although they determine it is safe, it’s still an extremely challenging environment to fly in on Night Vision Goggles due to the extreme weather conditions,” Scott added, emphasizing that weather conditions in Antarctica during its winter season are especially prone to change, which makes planning based on weather forecasting complicated.
A Challenging Evacuation in Frigid Conditions Scott said that the RNZAF’s operations were made even more difficult because no airfields are present to divert once their aircraft has reached a certain point, meaning that any forced landing or other complications could be potentially life-threatening.
“These missions are not taken lightly,” Scott said.
Fortunately, the RNZAF was able to carry out the mission with support from New Zealand’s own Antarctica mission and further coordination with the U.S. National Science Foundation staff on site in Antarctica.
Scott said that the RNZAF completed the rescue retrieval without incident, and that the U.S. patients are now being treated at a medical facility in Christchurch.
New Zealand Defence Force to the Rescue
Flown by New Zealand Defence Force personnel, the RNZAF’s C-130J Hercules flew to McMurdo Station with a medical officer on board, allowing treatment to begin once the crew was airborne and en route back to Christchurch.
To expedite the deployment of the emergency medical team, the C-130J was reportedly dispatched from its previous location in Auckland to Christchurch on Sunday, as the RNZAF departure team awaited favorable weather conditions that they hoped would minimize further complications for the mission.
By Tuesday, the New Zealand flight crew decided to take off under conditions that carried them through the night and into the following day. The C-130J’s engines were kept running even while the aircraft was on the ground, according to an RNZAF statement, in order to ensure they didn’t freeze during a “hot refueling” prior to its return to Christchurch with the Americans on board.
In total, the entire evacuation reportedly took under 20 hours to complete, including the brief time it spent on the ground at McMurdo Station.
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AVIATION PING!.................
Good job guys.
More winning...
Happened a few years back...someone got appendicitis....IIRC
Good thing they didn’t have to land at the north pole this time of year, with the ice all melted away during the summer. (typed in my best Algore voice)
Good job, kiwis.
I think this is only the 3rd time they have attempted something like this in all the history of the base.
This is the dead of winter there now and it is brutal.
Jerri Nielsen - Wikipedia https://share.google/gI3H08VPTF4zIwHpL
My question is if the person in question had a known medical condition, that under normal conditions, would have never have permitted them to be there. Thinking of the Biden “equity” days, when everyone deserves to do whatever they want, no matter how ridiculous. Probably less likely now.
Ambiguous headline and story. Did they evacuate three members or everyone?
Just three I think..............
Kudos to Kiwi’s. Also to the boys at Marietta Ga. for building a hell of a plane.
Probably a trans procedure complication
Just think: Antarctica is really friendly compared to Mars or the Moon.
Is this the base in the news recently where one member is violently crazy and had hurt people and they wanted him GONE asap?
That would make sense but the poor reporting left me guessing.
No it was the woman but he might have been mentioned in articles about her.
I thought there were palm trees and alligators down there because of globull warming.
It was prompted by a discovery of some odd remains at the Norwegian Research Base. They brought some remains back for study. And....well...y’all know the rest. (wink)
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