Rescuers searching in Antarctica for a plane missing with three Canadians aboard said they were hoping for a break in the weather Friday so they could try to reach the downed aircraft.
High winds and heavy cloud cover have so far hampered efforts to find the Twin Otter, which disappeared at 10:00 pm (0900 GMT) Wednesday while on a supply run from the South Pole to the Italian Antarctic base at Terra Nova Bay.
The search resumed Friday after being suspended overnight due to bad weather, with a second Twin Otter setting off from the US McMurdo base to try to spot the plane, the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) said.
“It will attempt to overfly the area where the downed aircraft is and see if they can see any more than we were able to yesterday,” RCCNZ spokesman Mike Roberts told Radio New Zealand.
Transmissions from an emergency beacon indicate the plane is located at an altitude of 3,900m (13,000 feet) in the Queen Alexandra mountain range, some 700 kilometres (435 miles) from the nearest Antarctic base.
Roberts said 170 kilometres per hour (105 miles per hour) winds were expected to ease and rescuers would try to reach the plane when conditions permitted.
He added that the rugged terrain meant sending in a helicopter was the preferred option but mountain rescue experts and medics were preparing to make a land-based approach if feasible.
“We have two helicopters on standby at the moment… and they will fly in as soon as conditions allow,” he said.
There has been no contact with the crew since the plane went missing but it was equipped with survival equipment, including mountain tents and supplies sufficient for five days.
The plane belongs to Canada’s Kenn Borek Air, a firm based in Calgary that charters aircraft to the US Antarctic programme.
The missing men have not been identified, although New Zealand media have named the captain as Bob Heath, an experienced polar pilot.
The RCCNZ is coordinating the search, with cooperation from US and Italian authorities in Antarctica, because the Queen Alexandra range lies in its rescue zone.
Antarctic search for Canadian plane resumes
