I heard they made it !
HFK
And all my best wishes to the woman researcher !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HFK
Vienna, Austria, Europe
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ARCTIC and ANTARCTIC Advice Agency Austria
http://members.EUnet.at/castaway
the only true POLAR INFORMATION in Austria
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Janni Lee Simner
>My congratulations to the crew of the C-141 !!!!!
>And all my best wishes to the woman researcher !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Congratulations and good thoughts to all!
Anyone have any more details on the flight?
____________________________________________________________________
Janni Lee Simner -- jsi...@pobox.com -- http://www.dm.net/~janni/
Bill Spindler
APn 07/12 0500 Polar Emergency
Copyright, 1999. The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or
otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated
Press.
By RAY LILLEY
Associated Press Writer
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)-- The crew of a U.S. Air Force jet and its
support staff celebrated today the successful completion of a daring mission to
drop emergency medical supplies to the South Pole.
The emergency supplies, sent for a U.S. woman who discovered a lump in her
breast, had been recovered and are in good condition, the staff at the South
Polar research base confirmed today.
"The critical items in the drop are all accounted for and in satisfactory
condition," said Col. Richard Saburro, after making radio contact with the polar
base.
Saburro is the commander of Operation Deepfreeze, the U.S. Antarctic
Program's air support unit, which helped organize and monitor the rare midwinter
airdrop.
The team was finally able to relax today after its grueling 6,375-mile
journey over the weekend. The two planes that took part in the mercy dash are
scheduled to leave New Zealand for their home bases in the United States on
Tuesday
"Everyone is extremely pleased, and congratulations have been flowing in,"
Saburro said.
During the mission Sunday, a U.S. Air Force plane swept over the coldest spot
on Earth, searching in the dark polar winter for a C-shaped chain of blazing
barrels -- the drop point for the emergency medical supplies.
The pressure was intense on the 23-person crew to make the drop quickly and
accurately before dwindling fuel supplies would force them to turn around.
Driving snow reduced visibility to less than five miles, and they had just
minutes to get in the right position as they approached the drop point at 200
mph. They wore night-vision goggles and oxygen masks as they flew 700 feet
above the South Pole.
The plateau where the station is located is some 10,000 feet above sea level.
Workers at the research base had just seven minutes to collect the six
bundles before the cold of minus 87 degrees damaged or destroyed the drugs and
equipment inside.
"It was worth the risk. The person who needed the supplies down there should
be able to get them now, and hopefully that will hold them over until they can
get her off the continent in the fall," Air Force Capt. John Hall told CNN upon
the plane's return.
Among the items dropped were two 380-pound ultrasound scanners and other
diagnostic equipment, plus drugs for immediate treatment of the woman's lump.
Two scanners were sent to ensure that at least one was recovered undamaged
from the ice.
The 47-year-old American woman, whose name was not disclosed, works in the
support staff at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, a geodesic dome that
houses a U.S. National Science Foundation station. Forty-one people work there,
researching everything from ozone to paleontology. The station is 840 miles from
the nearest populated site, another research station on the Antarctic coast.
The woman had recently undergone a biopsy and a battery of tests with the
base physician. The results were shipped back to doctors in the United States on
the Internet. The treatment they directed was not disclosed.
Because of extreme weather conditions, people don't leave the South Pole from
March through October.
The Air Force Starlifter transport plane, from McChord Air Force Base outside
of Seattle, was accompanied to the Antarctic coast by a KC-135 refueling plane,
which then returned to Christchurch.
The transport passed over the target twice to drop the six bundles of
equipment, medical supplies, fresh fruits and vegetables and mail.
The bundles were marked with strobes and chemical lights to help base staff
locate them. The workers darkened their station so the flight crew saw only the
burning barrels.
"I would definitely describe this as my most difficult mission," said the
pilot, Maj. Greg Pike. "After all, the whole thing is a loss if we don't put it
where they can get it."
At the polar station, people were in "high spirits," Saburro said. "They
welcome even the sound of an airplane above -- it gets them excited and connects
them back to the rest of the world."
The Starlifter was scheduled to leave for McChord on Tuesday. The tanker was
scheduled to leave in the early afternoon to return to Travis Air Force Base in
California.
RTos 07/11 0530 USAF Drops Emergency Supplies At South Pole
Copyright, 1999 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report may
not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the prior
written consent of Reuters Ltd.
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Air Force cargo plane flying in extreme cold
dropped nearly a ton of medical and other supplies at the South Pole Sunday on a
15-hour, 6,000 mile mercy mission from New Zealand.
The flight was organized to aid a female staff member at the scientific
station operated at the pole by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). She
has discovered a lump on her breast but cannot be evacuated until the long
winter ends in October.
Two full sets of ultrasound scanning equipment to help in her diagnosis
were included in the supplies as well as medicines and advanced video
conferencing equipment.
Six pallets of supplies were dropped by parachute as the plane, a Lockheed
C-141 Starlifter, flew over Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station for about 20
minutes aiming for beacons lit on the ice to mark the drop zone.
The sky was clear and the temperature on the ground minus 65 Fahrenheit.
Captain Bill Barksdale said at McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma,
Washington, that the plane made two passes about 1,000 feet over the drop zone,
dropping four bundles with medical supplies and two with fresh fruit, vegetables
and mail.
"All of the bundles were recovered by the National Science Foundation
successfully, and now they're trying to evaluate what damage was done, if there
was any," Barksdale said.
Typically such drops result in no damage, but the bundles fell quickly to
the cold, hard ground, even with parachutes.
"It was kind of an unconventional drop compared to what we usually do," the
air force spokesman said.
The bundles weighed about 350 pounds each and had to be physically pushed
out of the plane during each 15-second pass over the drop zone.
While the ground staff raced to retrieve the cargo blocks before they froze
to the ice, the plane and its crew of 23 was to continue its uninterrupted
flight 3,000 miles back to Christchurch, New Zealand, where it was scheduled to
land shortly before midnight.
A USAF tanker plane went along on the mission to refuel the Starlifter in
flight.
With Antarctica in the middle of its nine-month winter, conditions for the
aircraft were challenging, the USAF said before the crew departed.
Duplicate sets of equipment had been taken to minimize the risk of breakage
when the pallets landed, while the crew had to wear protective gear and oxygen
masks when unloading the supplies through the Starlifter's doors.
The door runners had been specially lubricated to prevent them freezing.
The woman, who was not identified, is part of a 41-member team maintaining
the station, where astronomers study the universe. There is one doctor and a
simple clinic at the base.
The cargo aircraft had left the McChord air base Thursday, stopped in
Hawaii for refueling, then flew on to New Zealand.
Winter in Antarctica runs from February to November, when the three-month
summer begins.
PR 07/11 0510 South Pole Medical Air Drop Successful
South Pole Medical Air Drop Successful
WASHINGTON, July 11 /PRNewswire/ -- A U.S. Air Force C-141 cargo jet has
successfully air-dropped the medical supplies needed to treat a woman spending
the winter months at the U.S. National Science Foundation's Amundsen-Scott South
Pole Station. The 47-year-old patient, whose identity is being kept
confidential, recently discovered a lump in one of her breasts.
The plane arrived at the South Pole at 1:30 a.m. (U.S. Eastern time) on
Sunday, July 11. The drop took place at approximately 1:55 a.m. Station
personnel retrieved all six of the dropped bundles, which contained medical
supplies and equipment.
The cargo aircraft left Christchurch, New Zealand at 5:54 p.m. Eastern time
Saturday, July 10. An accompanying KC-10 tanker aircraft followed approximately
20 minutes later. The tanker refueled the cargo plane en route to the Pole.
The aircraft were scheduled to return to Christchurch at approximately 8
a.m. Eastern time on Monday, July 12 after a flight of approximately 14 hours.
SOURCE U.S. National Science Foundation
-0- 07/11/99
/CONTACT: Media: Peter West, 703-306-1070, or pwest@@nsf.gov, or Mary
Hanson, 703-306-1070, or mhanson@@nsf.gov, both of U.S. National Science
Foundation/
/Web site: http://www.nsf.gov/
CO: U.S. National Science Foundation ST: District of Columbia IN: ENV SU:
--
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Bill Spindler..... Antarctican
http://people.delphi.com/billspindler/
Obviously, my opinions are mine!
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