Plane uses icy runway to save life

An Australian government jet carrying a medical team made a successful landing on an icy runway in Antarctica on Thursday to rescue a sick scientist from the United States’ McMurdo Station base. The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), a branch of the government’s environment department, said the US National Science Foundation (NSF) had requested assistance in the tricky emergency mission. NSF spokeswoman Debbie Wing said no US aircraft were available so Australia agreed to loan an Australian A319 Airbus to fly the patient out. The Royal New Zealand Air Force provided search-and-rescue coverage for the flight. “Our plane left Christchurch, New Zealand, this morning and has landed at McMurdo Station. It will be leaving again for Christchurch shortly,” AAD spokeswoman Patti Lucas told the reporter. Antarctica is emerging from a six-month period of night and the temperature Thursday was -25°C. The spokeswoman said the pilots would only have made the trip if weather conditions were suitable. “There’s been a successful landing and as far as we are aware, the rescue is proceeding as expected,” Lucas added. Wing did not identify the patient but said he or she “is currently stable but may require immediate corrective surgery best delivered at a more capable facility than available at McMurdo.” AAD director Tony Fleming said all nations with an interest on the icy continent “work together very cooperatively in these sorts of emergency situations in Antarctica to provide support when and as required”. Medical evacuations from Antarctica are relatively infrequent, with the last such rescue taking place in October 2011, when a US scientist was airlifted from McMurdo after suffering a stroke at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Approximately 30 nations operate permanent research stations in Antarctica including the US, China, Russia, Australia, Britain, France and Argentina. McMurdo Station, on the southern tip of Ross Island, is some 3,864 kilometres south of Christchurch. It has landing strips on both the sea ice and shelf ice, which are used at different times of the year. The patient, whose identity has not been released, is in stable condition, but may need “immediate corrective surgery,” according to the foundation. Wing said she could not give any additional details on the patient or the nature of the medical emergency, due to privacy laws. “The facility at McMurdo is equivalent to an urgent-care centre in the US, and is not equipped for the type of procedure being contemplated,” the foundation said in a statement. It is winter in Antarctica and there is only a narrow window of light every day. The rescue team timed the landing to coincide with the brief bright period, and was expected to land back in Christchurch by Thursday evening. The medical team is flying on an Airbus A319, with the Royal New Zealand Air Force providing search-and-rescue coverage for the flight. The patient will be treated at a Christchurch hospital, Wing said. Flights to Antarctica are usually made only during the summer, though there have been midwinter medical evacuations before. The most famous was the dramatic 1999 rescue of a female American doctor who was in need of breast cancer treatment. Flights to Antarctica are usually only made in the summer. From:Gulftoday