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Runaway1956 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Graham Slaughter, CTVNews.ca
Published Sunday, June 19, 2016 12:44PM EDT
Last Updated Sunday, June 19, 2016 2:51PM EDT

Two Calgary bush planes are flying to the South Pole in a rare and risky mission to rescue a worker in medical distress from a remote research station.

The Twin Otter aircrafts, from Alberta-based airline Kenn Borek Air, were dispatched to the isolated Amundsen-Scott South Pole station because they are designed to endure severe cold and are equipped with skis, allowing them to land in snow, the U.S. National Science Foundation said in a statement.

Officials say the planes could arrive at the research station as early as Sunday, depending on weather conditions. Details of the worker’s medical condition and identity have been withheld to protect their privacy.

  But the harsh Antarctic winter – which sees temperatures drop as low as -80 C as darkness blankets the continent – will add a layer of extreme difficulty to the emergency rescue, according to the NSF.

“As there is no tarmac runway at the South Pole, the aircraft must land in total darkness on compacted snow,” the NSF, which runs the research station, said in a press release.

The planes will attempt to reach the ailing worker and bring them “to a hospital that can provide a level of medical care that is unavailable at the station,” the NSF said.

Flying to the South Pole in the midst of winter is exceptionally rare. Flights to and from the research station usually aren’t chartered between February and October “due to the extreme cold and darkness,” the NSF said.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/total-darkness-calgary-planes-fly-to-south-pole-for-risky-rescue-mission-1.2952179 [ctvnews.ca]

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