Medical flight arrives in Antarctica to pick up sick American as blizzard conditions ease

Medical flight arrives in Antarctica for sick man

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A medical evacuation flight from New Zealand landed in Antarctica on Tuesday to evacuate an American worker in a serious medical condition, after blizzard conditions eased.

A New Zealand air force Orion airplane with three medical staff aboard landed at the U.S. McMurdo Station science base on the north Antarctic coast shortly after midday Tuesday (midnight GMT Tuesday) to pick up the sick man.

Air force spokesman Squadron Leader Kavae Tamariki said the weather over McMurdo’s ice runway had cleared and the airplane would spend about an hour and a half on the ground to pick up the patient, refuel and return to New Zealand.

The airplane was expected back at the southern city of Christchurch about 8 p.m. Tuesday (0800 GMT) where the man would be admitted for hospital treatment.

Officials would not identify the man or give details on his medical condition.

“The medical advice is to get him out of there as soon as possible for hospital care,” U.S. company Raytheon Polar Services New Zealand operations manager, Kerry Chuck, told The Associated Press. Raytheon provides support services for the U.S. National Science Foundation at McMurdo.

He said that the man remained in a serious, though stable, condition at the base.

The flight between Christchurch and McMurdo’s ice runway takes about seven hours.

An Orion left for Antarctica at 6 a.m. Sunday (1800 GMT Saturday), but was forced to turn back a few hours later after receiving reports of blizzards at McMurdo Station.

Antarctica New Zealand chief executive Lou Sanson said Antarctica was still in the grip of winter with temperatures of about minus 32 degrees Fahrenheit (-35 Celsius). The aircraft has to arrive in the middle of the day to take best advantage of the short daily period of sunlight, he said.