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Ski-Equipped Cargo Aircraft, Repaired at Remote Antarctic Site, Returns Safely
A ski-equipped LC-130 cargo airplane, which had become lodged in a snow-covered crevasse in mid-November during a flight to a remote scientific camp in the Antarctic interior, has returned safely to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Through the combined efforts of U.S. Air Force and American and New Zealand civilian technicians, the repair of the aircraft -- operated by the 109th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard -- included replacing an engine and two propellers. The repairs were carried out in one of the world's harshest, most unforgiving and most remote locations. One of the aircraft's main skis lodged in a crevasse on Nov. 16 while it was taxiing for takeoff after delivering supplies to the site, known as "Upstream D," deep in a perpetually ice-covered region known as West Antarctica. The plane was flying in support of a science mission of the National Science Foundation's U.S. Antarctic Program. The 109th Airlift Wing provides logistical support to the U.S. Antarctic Program and is one of only two military units in the world to fly the ski-equipped LC-130. For weeks, bad weather at the site and uncertainty about the extent of additional crevasses in the area immediately surrounding the plane had hampered efforts to repair and return the airplane to McMurdo. Prior to the recovery, engineers at the Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratories (CRREL) in Hanover, N.H., using ground-penetrating radar, and field safety experts from Antarctic Support Associates (ASA), of Denver, Colo., surveyed the site to insure that the area was safe for technicians. ASA heavy equipment operators then worked for days to fill a broad section of the 140-foot-deep ice fissure. Once accomplished, maintenance personnel from the 109th Airlift Wing, the Combat Logistics Support Squadron from Robbins Air Force Base, Ga. and Air New Zealand stabilized the area under the left main ski using plywood, snow, and 12-by-12 foot air bags while digging out the snow under the right main and nose skis to bring the plane to a level position. Once level, the plane was harnessed to a tractor and pulled to the area designated for repair work. The aircraft landed at McMurdo Station on Jan. 4 at 6:36 p.m. local time and will be returned within the week to an Air New Zealand maintenance facility for further repairs. For more information contact: For more information contact: Other images of the LC-130 cargo airplane are available here.
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