Published on
07/08/2026 - 9:41 GMT+2
An Australian air crew flew a US national from an Antarctic base to a New Zealand hospital in a rare midwinter rescue.
The Airbus A319 Long Range aircraft, with the call sign Snowbird 1, flew from the Australian city of Hobart to the US McMurdo Station in Antarctica on 31 July in response to an “urgent request for assistance,” the jet’s Melbourne-based owner Skytraders said in a statement.
The jet landed after a five hour and 30 minute flight at the Phoenix Airfield near McMurdo in darkness and with temperatures as low as -43C, the statement said.
