Bad luck dogs Ice team

Press, 20 October 1981, Page 6

Bad luck dogs Ice team

All but one member of the Scott Base winter-over team have returned to New. Zealand after a week of frustrating delays caused by a communications black-out between Christchurch and the Antarctic.

The remaining member, Mr Stan Whitfield, a technician from Christchurch, is scheduled to fly back at the end of the month. The team was to have returned to New Zealand on October 12 after a full year at Scott Base, but because of a black-out in communications caused by solar flares, their transport aircraft — United States Air Force Starlifters — were grounded at Christchurch Airport. The Americans were not prepared to launch south-bound aircraft from Christchurch unless they received news from McMurdo that the

weather and runway conditions were satisfactory. To make matters worse for the New Zealanders, the weather for most of the week was beautifully fine and the runway was in superb order. It was only by a fluke that their anxious wait was ended on Friday evening with the arrival of two Starlifters. The aircraft had left Christchurch not knowing what conditions were like at McMurdo, the plan being to turn back at the last moment if radio contact was not made. When the lead aircraft reached the critical point of safe return and had not picked up McMurdo by radio, it started to return to Christchurch. Then for some reason, possibly because the aircraft’s antennae was facing the other direction, a brief 30-second transmission

was picked up from McMurdo saying it was safe to land. The nine New Zealanders waiting to return were back in Christchurch by 7 a.m. the next morning.

The Scott Base officer in charge for the winter, "Mr John Sims, of Northland, returned to a special welcome. He met for the first time his eight-month-old daughter, Louise.

For a man who had been keen to visit the Antarctic since 1960, all of Mr Sims’ “great expectations” were fulfilled.

One highlight of his 53week stay had been a dog sledge trip to historic huts at Cape Evans and Cape Royds in September. /

Temperatures dropped to minus 51deg. during the win-

ter. in which the sun disappeared for four months.