Or at least that is the plan. When flying to Antarctica you can’t predict exactly when you will get there. The flight from Christchurch to McMurdo Station is never certain because of the harsh weather. I was told we may even get cleared to take-off in the morning, but at the two-hour check in the plane may have to turn around and head back to New Zealand, to wait for better weather. It is actually referred to as a “Boomerang Flight” when you have to turn around. I even have to pack a “Boomerang Bag” just in case our flight does turn around, they don’t want to unpack all the luggage, we just get our “Boomerang Bag” back. But more on that later….
The equipment our research team will be using is not packed in our luggage or even on the same plane.
The equipment flies down on a “Winfly” flight, one of the first flights after Winter; while people fly down on a “Mainbody” flight.
The journey of equipment actually begins in July. Well, except for the equipment that “permanently” lives in Antarctica from past research seasons.
Dr. Heather Liwanag filled me in on the process her team undergoes to have equipment transported down to the ice. “We send the gear in bins called Action Packers (made by Rubbermaid), which are hardy plastic totes. The gear first goes to the naval base at Port Hueneme (pronounced Port wah-NEE-mee) in Oxnard, California. Most teams ship the gear to Port Hueneme via UPS or FedEx, but I will make the 2-hour drive down there to save a bit on shipping. From there, it gets put on a ship to Christchurch, New Zealand, where the U.S. Antarctic Program International Antarctic Centre is located. Folks, there will load our gear onto one of the ice flights, probably on a C-17. If all goes well, it will arrive on the flight before ours and will be waiting for us at McMurdo!”
I wondered if equipment ever got “lost in the mail”, but knock on wood, Dr. Liwanag said she had never heard of equipment getting lost, just delayed. She added it is “more common for people's personal checked bags to be lost or delayed on the flight to New Zealand.”
Check out the pictures below of Dr. Liwanag’s team packing up the gear to send to Antarctica.
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