.png)
.jpg)
.png)
Planes face freezing Antarctic temperatures for South Pole rescue
Two Twin Otter aircraft arrived in Antarctica to airlift a worker in urgent need of medical treatment from the research centre at the South Pole
The Twin Otter aircraft is the only plane in the world capable of flying in the sub-zero temperatures of the polar midwinter
An operation is under way to rescue a worker from a research center at the South Pole who is in urgent need of medical care, via an airlift which has only been achieved twice in the history of the polar base.
The operation has required two Twin Otter aircrafts to be flown all the way from Canada for the rescue attempt. This is reportedly the only plane in the world capable of flying in the sub-zero temperatures of the polar midwinter.
The planes, which are operated by the Canadian airline Kenn Borek, left Calgary, Canada, on 14 June and arrived at the more accessible British Antarctic Station at Rothera, on the Antarctic peninsula near the southernmost tip of South America.
From there, the Guardian reports that one of the planes set out early on Tuesday to begin the 10-hour, 2,400km journey to Polar Base. The other, it says, is staying at Rothera in case it is needed for search and rescue.
