That's right, you guessed it! I'm still in McMurdo. This is going to be a short story today, because frankly I'm exhausted. Been up since about 0400 and on planes and modular air terminals all day. Since I got some really great photo's, let's just tell the story with them so they don't go to waste!
This is a beautiful LC-130 with ski's. It was primed to take me and three others to the South Pole this morning. We are on the Ice runway with about six feet of ice below us. The larger runway that sits on 30+ feet of ice on the permanent ice shelf is about 20 miles away. If you read my earlier posts, you've seen it.
It was a beautiful day. There were four LC-130's ready for the day's missions. These three and the one next to me.
I even had a friend, Jeff, take this picture of me!!! In fact, Jeff was half and hour late this morning and delayed us, so I blame him for this whole debacle.....
Gear loaded, we were ready. So ready, we even took off and headed to the Pole!!!! Well, all was very well. Two hours into the flight (less than 40 minute until landing at the Pole) and there is a bad sound out my window and shudder in the plane....hmmmmm. Two things you don't want to have happen when you're flying, right? Correct.
The number 3 engine is the one closest in the picture. The gears or something broke and well, Fail. You can see a bit if the issue as a little smoke pours out of it. Nothing too major at least. It's not like we're over a barren desert or anything....hmmm, oh yeah. :) Well, the plane can fly with three engines, but it isn't safe to land at Pole for the crew since they may be stuck there and the South Pole Station would have a new lawn...uhhh....ice ornament. So we turned around and headed back to McMurdo.
Catbert, the evil HR, was not pleased......
So you can see the way the pilots "feathered" the prop to keep it from being a huge air brake (thank you Ben). The prop was a little twisted too in addition to this, but hey, we landed fine. So any Ron White fans? If so, you'll love this. One of the other passengers asked the pilot (once we were in the van) "so it can fly with three engines?" The Pilot smiled and said "well, we didn't fall out of the sky, so I'm guessing yes." Then he grinned and said, "we can land, roughly, with two engines." the passenger asked, "what about one engine?" The pilot again grinned and said "One engine. Well, that will get us to the scene of the crash rather quickly." We all started laughing and I had to ask if there were any Ron White fans. One of the crew said "I bet we'll beat the paramedics by at least half and hour" thus answering my question. Was a great crew for the New York Air National Guard. Can't complain about their professionalism or skill in any way. Planes break, all the time, particularly in this harsh environment. Looks like I'm not leaving tomorrow for Pole.....I hope.
Until then!
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