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An aircraft carrying three men went missing in Antarctica on Wednesday and the plane’s emergency locator beacon was activated, according to the National Science Foundation.
The status of those aboard remains unknown, NSF spokesman Peter West said. The Toronto Star reported that the three men are Canadian.
West said those aboard were likely a pilot, co-pilot and a flight engineer carrying or picking up cargo. They had been contracted to support a branch of the Italian Antarctic Program that focuses on new technology and energy – specifically nuclear fusion and fission.
The aircraft, a de Havilland Twin Otter, was returning from the South Pole to Terra Nova Bay, where the Italian Antarctic Program is based, when contact was lost as the plane flew over a remote area of the Transantarctic Mountains.
The plane was contracted out by Kenn Borek Air Ltd., a Canadian company based in Calgary that charters aircraft to the U.S. Antarctic program.
Rescue crews, based at the New Zealand Rescue Coordination Center, know generally where the beacon is coming from, but cloudy and windy conditions have prevented rescue planes from attempting a landing near the downed plane.
“There are not as many weather stations, so it’s difficult to find out what the weather is,” West said. “There was low cloud, limited visibility in the air in the area where they were looking for the aircraft -- some blowing snow and issues with cloud.”
www.nsf.gov
A Twin Otter aircraft, photographed here in 2006, at the National Science Foundation's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.
West said he didn’t know whether the flight crew carried cold weather survival gear. At the U.S. station, protocol demands that anyone leaving the base must have protective gear – typically a parka, wind pants, insulated boots, a tent, food and a stove to melt snow into water.
He said that he doesn't recall a similar crash in his 14 years as a spokesman for the Antarctic program.
Antarctica, the size of U.S. and Mexico combined, is vast, white and isolated. There are about 50 research stations, some of them year-round, others open during research season, which runs roughly between October and early February – summer in the Southern Hemisphere. During those months, the largest is McMurdo Station, the U.S. Antarctic station on Ross Island, with about 1,100 people.
“It’s a harsh continent,” West said. “People take extra care if they can.”
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"West said those aboard were likely a pilot, co-pilot and a flight engineer ..."
That's the fun part of being spokesman - you get to be the smartass and see if anybody's paying attention.
They'd better find them quick, before it snows.
Hope they were prepared for conditions and they are found all alive and well soon.
Cold place to die........especially in the winter. You would think they would send two planes, instead of one, as a backup.
It is currently their summer.
We are having a lot of problems keeping aircraft in the sky and ships off reefs. Who is messing with the satellite guidance systems. I have never heard of so many in this month alone and last year was a disaster. You would think that we were using WW11 radar surveillance systems. No, I take that back we would have lost WW11 with these [satellite] guidance systems in use today.
You pose a valid question regarding satellite guidance systems. I wonder, though, if geostationary global positioning satellite systems have a south pole footprint. Maybe somebody on her knows. I do know that many "good weather summer days" in Antarctica are equivalent to some of the worst weather days for flying in the temperate latitudes. Moreover, the de Havilland Twin Otter, although dependable, is an OLD aircraft.
I worked at McMurdo for two austral summers, Oct.-Feb. in 1978-88, when flying in or out you can't imagine how big Antarctica really is, how much ice you fly over. Think of it as a place the size of the United States and Mexico, with less than 3,000 people during high summer, during the time of most activity . Antarctica is mostly empty, with a few bases along the coasts, and even fewer inland. When out on the ice, on a clear day it seems like you can see forever. I'm sure those guys had survival gear, the question is whether or not they survived the crash and were able to help themselves. I truly hope so, Antarctica is very very beautiful, but is also a lonely place to die.
Why are there 1,100 Americans there? Stupid use of money and making more poop, litter waste.
Your question and subsequent comment shows the stupidity is really yours
Yeah! Doa44 your probably right, it's a big waste of money. Much better to have an Iraq war, that wasted billions and billions of dollars, and killed many thousands of people, wrecked our military, and in the end, left America in a place way weaker than when it started. And by the way the litter and trash is shipped out, ant the sewage is treated. Sorry, but I like the NSF and the work it's doing in Antarctica, a much better bang of our bucks, as it were, so Doa44 get a grip.
Are you sure it wasn't an Air New Zealand DC-10-30 ?
That was an ugly mess. Most of it is still there.
The Twin Otter is a sweet plane, we use one at our drop zone.
www.Anon-Dis.tk
Yes, it is summer, but if they are alive, and have some shelter in the old bird, they can survive, but the real problems are getting parts in, Fed Ex is still not there last time I checked, and sometimes it takes several month or even a year--
And there are lots of reasons we are there to prove to the Republican that there really is climate change(also drilling on Greenland), since the Rep. shun away from anything factual--I am not sure it helps it helps to tell them though, just look at how few comments there are on this!. (this was the politics part)
" . . . .vast, white and isolated". A good political description of the true America.
I lost a sock in the dryer the other day, can we call out the National Guard to help me find it?
why are we being so diplomatic? it would take us 15 minutes to eradicate these lunatics, they're threatening us with a nuclear strike...hello! we are a nation led by sheep.
People in the US are brainwashed literally. They no longer have the ability to make a decision. When you remove the learning blocks of imagination and comprehension from the children. You are going to create a adult who follows and does what others do...SHEEP BAA...And the saddest thing is that they don't care until it is far to late. Once you are off the cliff there is no turning back. I think our government has already done this and the military is scrambling for the preservation of those who have been deemed as the worthy few. The best of the best that US has in academic achievement and military leaders.
It is saying that these people in this plane went missing on monday, It is now thursday, the weather is making it impassible to get to the plane. Regardless they are pinpointed with their becon. Their winter readiness isn't known. The only thing that i have is, Was these people dropped a survival care package being that their exact location is pinpointed, This should of at least been done immediately. While efforts are underway to get to them a.s.a.p.
Highly experienced airmen lost,whatever happened it was probably uncorrectable and sudden,whomever the chief investigator is on this one is gonna have to eat many aspirin due to the environmental factors for sure.Godspeed
I took the photo that was used to illustrate this article, showing the Twin Otter plane at the South Pole. The photo originally came from the United States Antarctic Program photo library:
which distributed it subject to the requirement "Print and electronic media may use the photos free of charge; however, the photographer and the National Science Foundation must be credited." Accordingly, please add my name to the photo credit.
Thank you.
Spencer Klein
Berkeley, CA