A U.S. expeditioner has been rescued from Antarctica in a rare midwinter medical evacuation, after Australian authorities and aviation partner Skytraders flew a special mission to McMurdo Station during one of the most isolated and dangerous periods of the Antarctic year.
At the request of the U.S. Antarctic Program, the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) and Skytraders dispatched an A319 aircraft, callsign Snowbird 1, from Hobart, Tasmania, carrying medical and Antarctic specialists to retrieve the patient. The aircraft departed in the early hours of Friday, July 31, and arrived at McMurdo five and a half hours later in complete darkness, with temperatures as low as -43°C (-45°F) and conditions deteriorating.
The crew transferred the patient onto the aircraft, which departed Antarctica ahead of worsening weather and flew to Christchurch, New Zealand, where the patient is now receiving medical treatment. The patient’s identity has not been released.
“This was a complex operation carried out in the depths of the Antarctic winter, and it highlights both the capability of our people and the strong partnerships that underpin Antarctic programs around the world.”
— Emma Campbell, AAD Head of Division
Skytraders pilot Captain Al Wallach credited years of preparation and coordination between flight crews, meteorologists, and medical personnel for the mission’s success, adding that winter operations raise the complexity of any Antarctic flight significantly.
McMurdo Station is the largest U.S. research station in Antarctica, sitting on the southern tip of Ross Island roughly 2,415 miles south of Christchurch, New Zealand, and about 850 miles north of the South Pole. The station was first built in the mid-1950s for the International Geophysical Year and now serves as the main logistics hub for the U.S. Antarctic Program, supporting inland stations, remote field camps, and year-round scientific research. Average temperatures at McMurdo run around -18°C (0°F) annually, but can climb to the mid-40s Fahrenheit in summer and drop to roughly -50°C (-58°F) in winter, with winds that can exceed 100 knots.
Why Midwinter Flights are so Rare
Antarctic stations are largely cut off from the outside world for months during the austral winter. Routine flights that run near-daily in summer stop almost entirely once winter sets in, because of the combination of prolonged darkness, extreme cold, and weather that can turn dangerous with little warning.
Polar engineer Sven Lidström, who spent two winters working at Antarctic research stations, described the risks of winter flying in a 2016 interview with National Geographic. He said aircraft fuel can begin to gel at around -60°C (-76°F), turning from liquid to a near-solid state, while the extreme cold makes aircraft components stiff and fragile. Lidström, who wintered at the South Pole rather than McMurdo, said crews there were told during a prior medical emergency that a midwinter flight would be considered only as a last resort, given the added risk to the flight crew itself.
That backdrop explains why the AAD stressed how rare the recent McMurdo evacuation was. The AAD said the mission required exact coordination between runway teams, meteorologists, and medical staff to land safely and depart again before conditions worsened further.
Not the First Midwinter Rescue from McMurdo
This is not the first time McMurdo Station has required a difficult winter medical evacuation in recent years. In August 2025, New Zealand’s air force flew a nearly 20-hour mission to evacuate three Americans from McMurdo after station staff were unable to receive adequate treatment on-site, in an operation conducted in slightly “milder” temperatures of -24°C (-11°F).
Following this year’s evacuation, the U.S. National Science Foundation, which manages the U.S. Antarctic Program, said it was grateful for assistance from the New Zealand Defence Force, which helped coordinate the effort alongside Antarctica New Zealand, a longstanding U.S. partner in the region.
