Iced Hercules to be flown out?

Press, 5 February 1987, Page 3

Iced Hercules to be flown out?

A United States Hercules aircraft which had been buried in Antarctica for 15 years might be flown out next summer after being dug out by a team of contractors.

Aircraft engineers who inspected . the aircraft early last month found that it was airworthy and could be repaired and flown from the site. The leader of the recovery team, Mr Jim Matthews, said that a further four-week to sixweek inspection would be made next summer before a decision was made. It was possible that the engines, which had been salvaged this summer, would be refitted for the t flight out, he said. *

The excavation by the six-man team from I.T.T. Antarctic Services took about a month. The Hercules had been damaged on take-off in

December, 1971, when a booster rocket hit an engine and disabled the aircraft It crashed 230 km inland from France’s Dumont D’Urville coastal station.

Since the crash, up to 10 metres of snow had piled up on the aircraft Only 1.3 metres of its tail remained above the surface.

Mr Matthews said that the recovery had cost $500,000 which would be paid for eight times over by the salvage of the four engines valued at $1 million each. If the Hercules was fully restored and flown off the ice the total cost would be about $9 million. A new aircraft with spare parts cost $3B million. Although some snow was blown back into the excavation site during the dig by bulldozers, the work was simple and straightforward.

Mr Matthews has worked in Antarctica on contract jobs for the United States National Science Foundation since 1974 and had known about the aircraft

When the plane first crashed it was bought that salvage would not be possible. However, after a detailed study and an inspection in 1977-78 it was considered feasible. Hauling the aircraft from the pit that had been dug around it brought a great sense of achievement said Mr Matthews. “If we can’t be there to see it take off we definitely want to be where it lands,” he said. The Hercules will be left near the crash site during the winter. There was no possibility of its being covered again, he said.

Only 60cm of snow was expected to fall during the winter.