“The crew can only attempt the flight after detailed analysis of the weather and airfield state. The United States Antarctic Program Winter Team must physically create the runway before we can depart by ensuring the ice is groomed and suitable for landing. 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, which are highly changeable at this time of year and makes accurate forecasting a challenge. This, coupled with there being no airfields available to divert to once the aircraft is past a certain point south adds to the risk, so these missions are not taken lightly,” he added. Source: Air Commodore Andy Scott, head of the air component for New Zealand, explaining why mid-winter flights to Antarctica are among the most challenging missions, after the New Zealand Air Force conducted a medevac operation lasting nearly 20 hours to rescue three Americans from McMurdo Station in Antarctica after they were unable to receive adequate treatment by on-site medical staff.
