Antarctic rescues
Sir, — While your editorial of September 8 (Visitors’ book for Antarctica) is basically sound, the statement "... it (N.Z.) will not willingly bear the. cost of bailing people out of trouble” requires modification/When interpreting future comment on private expeditions we should remember that our search and rescue capability in Antarctica is minimal. We do not have an icestrengthened vessel capable of navigating the Ross Sea. We do not have a fixed-wing aircraft capable of landing anywhere on the continent. Our Cl 30 Hercules simply have wheels, so can only land on a sea-ice runway maintained for two months by United States heavy machinery. These aircraft are not capable of flying home without a fuel resupply transported the previous season in a United States ship. The R.N.Z.A.F. deployed one singleengined Iroquois helicopter for the first time last summer. An Iroquois’ range is small by Antarctic standards and policy dictates that it will not fly over open water. — Yours, etc.,
COLIN MONTEATH. September 9, 1986.
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Press, 12 September 1986, Page 16
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164Antarctic rescues Press, 12 September 1986, Page 16
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