Weather Causes Flight to Boomerang
Read Ann Posegate’s account of the group’s first flight attempt and the weather conditions that have delayed their arrival in Antarctica. Photos from the flight are available below.
Jan. 6, 2010, 3:00 p.m. (New Zealand time)
Boomerang: Return to the initial position from where it came.
I am currently in a U.S. Air National Guard C-17 “Pegasus” jet flying over the South Pacific from Christchurch, New Zealand – hub of the National Science Foundation’s U.S. Antarctic Program – to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. I have to laugh. Upon waking up at 5:00 a.m. this morning, I had a gut feeling that today was not the day I would be going to Antarctica. After a 24-hour delay on our flight from New Zealand to Antarctica yesterday morning, I ignored this morning’s intuition, hoped for the best and went through the motions with the expected excitement. And now, after five hours in the air, we just received word from the pilots that we will most likely boomerang – that is, turn around and fly back to Christchurch because conditions at McMurdo are too bad to land on an airstrip made of ice. However, as you can see in the photos below, we are lucky enough to fly over the Antarctic continent before doing a u-turn.
Jan. 6, 2010, 4:30 p.m
By this morning, the skies at McMurdo had cleared from a storm yesterday and visibility had improved. Forecast models suggested that the window would remain open through early afternoon, but hinted that conditions could again deteriorate.
In the off-chance that weather improved at McMurdo, the pilots waited until the last possible minute to decide whether or not to turn back. Four porthole windows and a visit to the cockpit allowed us unparalled views of landscapes of white sea ice and glaciers under the bluest of skies, until we came within 130 miles of McMurdo. We circled around McMurdo for one hour before the pilots received the report that the weather would not clear any time soon. The cloud ceiling was too low, visibility was too poor, and pilots would not have been able to distinguish the low cloud ceiling from the runway of ice about 2500 feet below.
Since November, the 2009-2010 austral (Southern Hemisphere) summer has had more boomerang flights and no-fly days than the past few years, all due to Antarctic weather. So, we are not the first to boomerang this season. One scientist aboard explained that he has been visiting the ice for 13 years and has never boomeranged until this season … this is his second boomerang flight since November.
Antarctic weather has a mind of its own, and can get tricky to forecast. Without internet or satellite data, Dan Satterfield, Chief Meteorologist at WHNT-TV in Huntsville, Ala., and I – both part of the Antarctic reporting team traveling this week – had fun trying to guess what was happening. Even though travel delays and long flights have resulted, the past two days’ weather-related changes to our itinerary have been rather exciting for weather folk. I wish I knew more about Southern Hemisphere and polar weather!
Even though I have spent a week in transit to this astounding continent and have now seen it with my own eyes, it seems that the atmosphere is not yet ready for our arrival. It is a difficult feeling to fly over the ice without landing. Still, I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world to view this amazing scenery from the air!
Our trip will go on, despite the delays. If there’s one thing you can’t blame, it’s the weather.
Jan. 6, 2010, 11:00 p.m.
After a 10-hour flight, we returned safely to Christchurch, but the stratus is still being blown in by easterly winds around McMurdo. We’re going to try again in several hours. Keep your fingers crossed that McMurdo clears by afternoon and we land safely on the ice …
Related Photos for Download: Ann’s Pictures from the Flight
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View of the Trans-Antarctic Mountains from the plane Download High Resolution Photo (Credit: Ann Posegate) |
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View of southern Antarctic topography from the plane Download High Resolution Photo (Credit: Ann Posegate) |
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Fragmented sea ice off the southwestern coast of Antarctica Download High Resolution Photo (Credit: Ann Posegate) |
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Inside the C-17 military jet Download High Resolution Photo (Credit: Ann Posegate) |
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Waiting patiently inside the C-17 military jet, donned in cold weather gear Download High Resolution Photo (Credit: Ann Posegate) |
