Buried plane in 'mint condition’
United States contractors who recently dug out a Hercules aircraft buried in Antarctic ice for 15 years were amazed at the good condition of the aircraft
The United States National Science Foundation polar director, Dr Peter Wilkniss, said that the aircraft had been well preserved under 13m of snow.
. A decision would be made next summer whether the aircraft could be flown from the crash site, which is 230 km inland from France’s Dumont D’Urville coastal station.
Dr Wilkniss said that it would cost $75 million for a new ski-equipped Hercules, which was considerably more than the cost of the recovery of the icebound aircraft
The engines have been removed from the Hercules and are now at Williams Field, Ross Island, about 1000 km from the crash site.
Three bulldozers were used to free the aircraft from the snow and ice, said Dr Wilkniss. Their drivers worked for a month on the 1800 m plateau in bitterly cold and windy weather to free the .aircraft. It was pulled from the snow on Christmas Day.
The Hercules was damaged on take-off in December, 1971, when a booster rocket hit an engine and disabled the aircraft
Dr Wilkniss, who has seen the aircraft said that it was in “mint condition” when recovered.
It appeared that the cold Antarctic conditions had preserved the aircraft
The Hercules was dug free by bulldozers while a big heater pumped warm air into the fuselage. A ski-landing strip was also built near the aircraft
Another Hercules flew equipment to the site
from Williams Field, near the United States McMurdo Station on, Ross Island.
Dr Wilkniss said that at least three of the aircraft’s engines could be used again. “Even if we cannot fly it out. we are making money,” he said.
Buried plane in 'mint condition’
Press, 20 January 1987, Page 6
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