Canadian rescue crew reaches South Pole
A Canadian rescue plane landed at the South Pole Saturday after a 10-hour flight from a British research base in Antarctica.
Pilot Sean Loutitt, his co-pilot and engineer are attempting to pick up an ailing American researcher from the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.
The rescue crew had spent the last five days at Rothera Air Station, a British base located on the northwestern tip of the continent, waiting for better weather before trying the flight of nearly 2,200 km.
- FROM SEPT. 17, 2003: Canadians ready for South Pole rescue
The Twin Otter plane, from Calgary's Kenn Borek Air, is well suited to the extreme conditions at the Pole. The temperature there was -58C on Saturday.
The rescuers plan to rest for 10 hours and then make the return trip, said a spokesperson for the polar base. The patient will be flown to a hospital in Chile before returning to the United States.
- FROM MAY 3, 2001: Pilots return after historic South Pole rescue
Loutitt successfully completed a similar mission in April 2001. He flew in -60C temperatures to the same polar base to pick up a doctor who needed surgery.
The airline specializes in high-risk missions for the United Nations, scientists and adventurers.