MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian air crew flew an American from an Antarctic base to a New Zealand hospital in a rare midwinter rescue.
The Airbus A319 Long Range aircraft, with the call sign Snowbird 1, flew from the Australian city of Hobart to the U.S. McMurdo Station in Antarctica on July 31 in response to an “urgent request for assistance,” the jet’s Melbourne-based owner Skytraders said in a statement Thursday.
The jet landed after a five hour and 30 minute flight at the Phoenix Airfield near McMurdo in darkness and with temperatures as low as minus 43 C (minus 45.4 F), the statement said.
The American was flown on the same day to a hospital in Christchurch, New Zealand, as weather conditions at the Antarctic air strip worsened, said Skytraders, which is contracted by the Australian Antarctic Program.
The U.S. National Science Foundation told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the patient was admitted to the Christchurch Hospital in a “serious condition.”
New Zealand’s Health Ministry on Friday would not comment on the American’s condition or say whether the American remained in hospital.
The mission’s copilot, Louise Robertson, said conditions were close to the limit of the aircraft’s capabilities.
“We had some what’s called nautical twilight, which is a very minimal amount of light that is pretty much pitch blackness and also the extreme cold temperatures. We are right on the verge of the limitation of the aircraft,” Robertson told ABC.
“It was very close to being too cold,” she said.” It got down to minus 43 (Celsius), which is the coldest I’ve ever felt. It was about 8 knots of wind, so quite a bit of wind-chill as well.”
Robertson said plans to fly to the base on the Ross Ice Shelf a day earlier were aborted due to a snow storm.
“There … was really just such a narrow window of opportunity,” Robertson said.
“To get there in complete darkness in these extreme cold temperatures is very, very rare. I believe it hasn’t been done before,” she added.
The sun last set at the geographic South Pole on March 23 and will not rise until Sept. 21.
The New Zealand Air Force evacuated a New Zealand citizen working on the U.S. Antarctic Program from the Phoenix Airfield in a C-130 Hercules in a medical emergency in April, which is the Southern Hemisphere autumn.
In August last year, the final month of the Southern Hemisphere winter, New Zealand used the same type of four-engine turboprop transport aircraft to evacuate three people on a flight from McMurdo for medical treatment.
Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand.
FILE - McMurdo Station, Antarctica, is photographed from the air on Oct. 27, 2014. (National Science Foundation via AP, File)
FILE - A sign is photographed at McMurdo Station, a United States Antarctic research station, on Dec. 4, 2018. (National Science Foundation via AP, File)
BOSTON (AP) — Caleb Durbin lined a single to center field off Chicago’s Erick Fedde in the 13th inning to score NIck Sogard and the Boston Red Sox rallied to beat the Chicago White Sox 12-11 on Thursday night in a game that lasted more than four hours.
Connor Wong had a two-run home run, Anthony Siegler added three RBIs and scored a run. Wilyer Abreu had two RBIs, including one to tie the game in the ninth. Andruw Monasterio also added two RBI doubles.
Brayan Bello (4-6), the last of nine Red Sox pitchers, worked two innings for the victory. Fedde (6-7) was the last of eight Chicago pitchers.
Boston won its eighth straight and 10th in 11 games. The Red Sox have won 10 consecutive series. It is their second sweep of Chicago.
Chicago led 7-6 in the ninth and Boston tied the game in four straight innings.
Miguel Vargas scored on a Colson Montgomery sacrifice fly off reliever Garrett Whitlock to put Chicago in front 10-9 in the 11th inning. Boston tied it when Wilyer Abreu's sac fly scored Nick Sogard.
Meidroth got Chicago on the board with his 10th homer, a blast over the Green Monster off Ranger Suarez in the third, making it 2-0.
Chicago added two runs later in the inning. It was a 42-pitch inning for Suarez, who was pulled after the frame after allowing three runs off three hits and throwing 70 pitches overall.
Chicago starter Luis Castillo was chased after four innings, allowing five runs off six hits and Wong’s homer.
White Sox catcher Joey Bart left the game in the seventh inning with a fifth metacarpal fracture in his left hand and will be evaluated.
The Red Sox were without first baseman Willson Contreras, who missed his second game due to illness.
White Sox LHP Noah Schultz is to make his 14th career start Friday at Cleveland.
Red Sox LHP Boston’s Payton Tolle (6-6, 3.30) is set to start Friday against the Athletics.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Boston Red Sox's Caleb Durbin, left, celebrates with teammates after his game-winning RBI single during the 13th inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Red Sox's Caleb Durbin, front, is doused by Jarren Duran after his winning RBI single during the 13th inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida watches the flight of his single during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Red Sox's Connor Wong is congratulated after his two-run home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Chicago White Sox's Chase Meidroth watches his two-run home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Chicago White Sox's Colson Montgomery, right, beats the tag by Boston Red Sox's Connor Wong to score on a single Braden Montgomery during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Red Sox's Caleb Durbin, left, beats the throw to Chicago White Sox's Munetaka Murakami (5) on a single during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
