National Guard airmen brave temperatures near minus 80 to rescue broken cargo plane at South Pole
By DOUG G. WARE
STARS AND STRIPES • December 22, 2022
A team of three National Guard airmen, each from a different state, put their heads together at the bottom of the world to rescue a military cargo plane that became stranded in Antarctica, officials said.
The LC-130 had flown a mission in November to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, a scientific research facility, to deliver supplies there as part of Operation Deep Freeze, a yearly operation that sends supplies to the U.S. Antarctic stations. A ski-equipped version of the C-130, the LC-130 became stranded after landing when a cable that controls the elevators on the tail snapped.
The elevators — two movable flaps attached to the tail’s horizontal stabilizer — move up and down to control the plane’s pitch. Cables connect them to the cockpit and allow pilots to move the elevator flaps to bring the plane’s nose up or down. Without either one, the plane cannot fly.
https://www.stripes.com/branches/air_force/2022-12-22/national-guard-antarctica-cargo-plane-8514190.html
