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First Hercules flight from Australia to Antarctic ice runway
RAAF C-130J crew and Wilkins Aerodrome staff. [Photo Nick Watt]
Mar 02, 2020 - A newly modified Hercules aircraft has landed at Australia’s glacial runway, Wilkins Aerodrome, marking one of its longest ever flights. [Read more...]
Chilean C-130 missing enroute to Antarctica with 38 on board
Chilean AF C-130R #990 taken on September 19th 2018 at SCEL during Army day in Chile. [Photo by Simon Blaise Olivera]
Dec 10, 2019 - A C-130 Hercules (#990) took off from Punta Arenas and was en route to Antarctica when contact was lost at 18:13hrs. 38 people were travelling to provide logistical support to a military base on Antarctica's King George Island. [Read more...]
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New Antarctica service puts Lynden on all continents
Lynden Air Cargo L-100-30 #P4-LAE is seen arriving at Athens International Airport on March 05, 2017. [Photo by Alex Maras]
Jan 11, 2019 - "Antarctica was the final continent on our checklist," says Lynden Air Cargo President Rick Zerkel. "Now we can cross it off." Lynden Air Cargo has joined a short list of operators that serve all seven continents by starting a new project in support of an Italian Antarctic Expedition team doing research on the icy land mass. [Read more...]
NYANG aircrew completes South Pole mission despite extreme weather conditions
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]
Nov 09, 2017 - 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. [Read more...]
109th takes off to support 30th Operation Deep Freeze season
USAF LC-130H #83-0493 Skibird from the 139 AS takes off from Stratton ANGB, to begin the journey to McMurdo Station, Antarctica, on October 17, 2017. This is the 30th season that the unit will participate in Operation Deep Freeze, the military component of the U.S. Antarctic Program, which is managed by the National Science Foundation. [USAF photo by SMSgt. William Gizara]
Oct 17, 2017 - Two LC-130 aircrews, transporting supplies and equipment, began the first leg of a five-leg journey to McMurdo Station, Antarctica, to provide logistical support to the National Science Foundation. [Read more...]
New York ANG, aircraft begin annual migration to South Pole
An LC-130 "Skibird" with the New York ANG's 109th Airlift Wing departs for McMurdo Station, Antarctica, from Stratton ANGB in Scotia, N.Y. on October 18, 2016. This is the 29th season that the unit will participate in Operation Deep Freeze, the military component of the U.S. Antarctic Program, which is managed by the National Science Foundation. [ANG photo by MSgt. William Gizara]
Oct 18, 2016 - Airmen and ski-equipped aircraft from the New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing have started their annual journey to Antarctica. [Read more...]
NYANG's 109th AW wraps up Antarctic Support Mission
Maj. Timothy Novak, a navigator with the 139 AS, exits LC-130H #83-0492 on the flight-line at Stratton ANGB in Scotia, N.Y., after returning from Antarctica to the base near Schenectady, on March 8, 2016. The wing, which flies the only ski-equipped aircraft in the U.S. military flies transportation missions in support of the National Science Foundation as part of Operation Deep Freeze, the military support to the U.S. Antarctic Program. [ANG photo by MSgt. William Gizara]
Mar 10, 2016 - The New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing transported 3,900 people, and carried 4 million pounds of supplies and 1.2 million pounds of fuel to stations around Antarctica during its annual support five- month mission for the National Science Foundation which ended this week. [Read more...]
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