I post this with a twinge of sadness.

An Australian jet has left Christchurch for Antarctica on a tricky mission to rescue a sick American scientist from an ice-bound research station.

A team from the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) had been waiting for clear weather to fly 3,800 kilometres to the US base at McMurdo Station, on the southern tip of Ross Island.

McMurdo is experiencing temperatures of minus 25 degrees Celsius, but as the supply station for the US Antarctic program, it has a runway that is open all year round.

The five-member Australian team are flying in an AAD Airbus A319 jet.

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) said it called in Australian help yesterday because no US planes were available.

The Royal New Zealand Air Force will provide search-and-rescue coverage for the flight.

ABC/AFP

__________________
Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating