This LC-130 "Skibird" crew landed at the South Pole Station with minimum visibility and maximum crosswinds, and then were forced to make an emergency weather divert to Terra Nova Bay when extreme weather made it unsafe to land at McMurdo Station on November 9, 2017. The crew (from left): 1st Lt. Brian Alexander, co-pilot; A1C Ryan Rhoads, loadmaster; Lt. Col. Ronald Ankabrandt, navigator; SMSgt. Michael Messineo, flight engineer; SMSgt. David Vesper, loadmaster; and Capt. Brandon Caldwell, pilot. The 139th EAS crew and LC-130 are deployed to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze from the AYANG’s 109th AW in Scotia, New York. This is the 30th season the 109th AW is providing ODF support. [ANG photo by MSgt. Catharine Schmidt]
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News: NYANG aircrew completes South Pole mission despite extreme weather conditions [2017-11-09]
The harsh, unforgiving and unpredictable weather of Antarctica made a routine mission to the South Pole a little more than an LC-130 "Skibird" crew with the 139th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron had bargained for on November 9, 2017.
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