The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) has carried out a rare mid-winter medical evacuation from Antarctica.
The C-130H Hercules aircraft landed back in Christchurch shortly after 5pm with an American patient on board with a non-life threatening condition, but one that requires medical treatment that cannot be carried out in Antarctica.
On Tuesday, the aircraft flew from its RNZAF base in Auckland to Christchurch, before departing for Antarctica in the early hours of the morning and landing at Phoenix Airfield at 8.50am. It departed for the return flight to Christchurch at 10am.
Flights to Antarctica at this time of year are "very challenging" due to the extreme Antarctic environment, changeable weather conditions and because there is no daylight.
The aircraft's crew wore night-vision goggles and had to keep the plane's engines running as it was refuelled in Antarctica to protect them from the minus-33C temperatures.
On Wednesday, work had been undertaken at Phoenix Airfield to clear and compact snow on the runway to allow the Hercules to safely land.
"With a narrow gap of acceptable weather, the crew deployed early this morning," said Air Component Commander Air Commodore Andy Scott.
"The weather had deteriorated again on arrival and so they have threaded the needle to get in when they did.
"The pilots have a point of no safe return when they make the decision to continue or turn around, known as a 'boomerang'.
"We're very pleased we have been able to successfully carry out this Antarctica flight today and get the patient to New Zealand to receive further medical treatment."
