Antarctica 2018: Chapter 5: Flight Day!
Link to Chapter 4: ECWs
Link to Chapter 3: Christchurch!
Link to Chapter 2: Auckland
Link to Chapter 1: From Hawaii to Antarctica
Staying at a US Antarctic Program hotel helps you stay connected to flight updates. This note was slipped under my door at 9 PM the night before flight day.
From here on, it seems like no words I can write will do the experience justice. So... pictures will have to do the trick.
But first... a few words about the most unusual flight I’ve ever taken.
I woke up at 0445 and called the flight information line. No updates. I called at 0505, and heard the magic words: “confirmed!” I was going to take off for Antarctica that day!
Of course, a takeoff is no guarantee of a landing. Pilots circle the PNR, or point of no return, till they get confirmation from MAC Tower of good weather at the landing site. Once they proceed past PNR, they have to land at MAC — there’s not enough fuel to make it back to NZ.
The SuperShuttle took us to the CDC. We were all pretty quiet, no one willing to sound hopeful or confident in fear of jinxing it. Weather had been bad for days, after all, though this was my first attempt.
Ready to go! At the United States Antarctic Passenger Terminal in Christchurch bright and early.
Though it looks just like a regular airport… there are some key differences. There’s no TSA here (thank God). New Zealand’s Royal Air Force maintains security and passenger screening. And any country that is part of the Antarctic Treaty, by arrangement with the NSF, may transit through this terminal. We had several Kiwis on their way to Scott Base ride the plane with us.
At the CDC, our ECWs were waiting. We repacked things into three bags: a check-in bag that we wouldn’t see till the destination (my Pelican case carton), a carry-on bag (camera, music, iPad), and a “boomerang bag”, everything to survive in Christchurch for three days. They’d give us this bag back if we didn’t make it to MACTown that day.
All of us packing our “boomerang bags” at the CDC. The red jackets are called “Big Red”.
The process flowed fairly smoothly. Once we were packed and tagged (red tag for bags you were leaving at the CDC, orange for boomerang, blue for check-in, black for carry-on), we filled out Antarctic departure cards. Definitely the coolest departure card I’ve ever filled out.
Flight Departure card to Antarctica!!!
After that, we were weighed: first our checked luggage, to include boomerang bags (could not weigh more than 85 pounds, unless you had an excess baggage allowance like me), then we stepped on the scales holding our carry-on bag and wearing our ECWs. Then we were issued an Antarctic Boarding Pass (not pictured for security reasons), and released to forage for breakfast down the street! Walked right out of the CDC. If only real airport security were this common sense.
We must have looked an odd group: we were dressed in snow pants, boots and had Antarctic boarding passes around our necks. By 0715, the restaurant had emptied, and we were all headed back to the lounge to watch one more video about airplane emergencies. Then we lined up and went through airport screening — just as you would at any other airport. No weapons, no lithium batteries, no “sharps”. At the end of it, we waddled out in our bulky ECWs to a large bus, trying in vain not to sweat. Last year, one of the passengers got a heat stroke on the bus, from overheating in ECWs when the weather was warm out.
The Kiwis were with us now, filling the bus with excited chatter. The Americans have “Big Red”, and the Kiwis have “Penguin Yellow” jackets. Literally, there’s a penguin on the back of their jackets (see Chapter 6). The bus began rolling, and we were off! Across the street, around to the Antarctic entrance to the airport… and our ride!
We were extremely lucky to be on a C-17. This jet powered USAF aircraft can make the journey from Christchurch to MAC in five hours, and carries enough fuel to linger at PNR for longer. The C-17 doesn’t have skis, so the ice runway must be hard-packed at the destination. MACTown is right on the coast, with a massive bed of sea ice right beside the station. Around the second week of December, this sea ice begins to melt, which makes “Phoenix airfield” at MAC unusable for a month, possibly longer. This will be an issue for me getting back, as the smaller LC-130s can’t carry as many passengers.
The Air Mobility Command C-17, based out of McChord AFB, Washington, which will take us to McMurdo. This massive airplane is the backbone of the US Antarctic program, both for passenger transport and its cargo tonnage.
Inside, we take our seats on the side of the plane, which is only odd on takeoff and landing. It’s more comfortable than Economy on United, that’s for sure!
My seat for the ride to Antarctica; the cabin is climate controlled for the first four hours of the flight, so it’s too hot to wear Big Red, but it makes a nice pillow!
With that, we’re off! It’s a little odd not being able to see anything on taxi and takeoff. The only way we knew we were at the runway was when the four massive jet engines cycled up — there was no mistaking that sound. With that — we were headed south for the summer!
Left: DNF, or “Do not Freeze” cargo, is crucial to the success of both Antarctic science, and nutrition! “Freshies”, or fresh fruits and vegetables that haven’t been frozen, are highly sought after. Top: Along the right, the first half of the picture is approximately twenty thousand pounds of cargo bound for McMurdo. The program would be unable to succeed without the C-17.
Would we make it to MAC, or would we get turned back, to try again the next day? Stay tuned =)