It ’s most the end of the twelvemonth 2021 CE , so you ’d look that humanity as a whole would have , you roll in the hay , inhibit the planet by now . But even with today’shigh - tech transport options , there are still some places thatdefy exploration – and it ’s probably no surprise that a few of them can be witness in thebarren , aliencontinent of Antarctica .
Now , for the first time in history , an Airbus 340 has land in Antarctica . This kind of plane , which made its first flight more than three ten ago , was “ cautiously chosen to perform well in this uttermost environment,”according toHi Fly , the boutique aviation company that made the flying – and after this successful touchdown , the company say they trust to start the journey up to tourists in the close future tense .
“ This [ was ] not just another flight , ” explained Captain Carlos Mirpuri , who aviate the planing machine and is also vice Chief Executive of Hi Fly . “ [ T]here are specificity related to this very distant surgical procedure we would be direct , the harsh environment we would face , and the need to ensure proper protective clothing would be on board . ”
The woodworking plane fructify off from Cape Town on November 2 and arrived 2500 maritime knot off in Antarctica just over five hours later . The flying was commission to fork up supply by Wolf ’s Fang , an upscale dangerous undertaking resort for people who want to experience justinhuman levels of coldduring their vacation time .
As you may expect , the flight came with quite a few challenges . The “ runway ” was a 3000 meter tenacious stretch of grim glacial ice , and Mirpuri wrote in his log that “ the reflection is wondrous … proper eyewear help you aline your center between the outside aspect and the instrumentation . ”
“ It is not sluttish to spot the runway , ” he add together , “ but at one point we have to see it , as absolutely no navigation help exist in [ Wolf ’s Fang Runway , where they landed ] … from around 20 geographical mile we must be in visual contact . ”
Technically , Wolf ’s Fang Runway is n’t even an airport at all : it’sdesignated asa C level airport , which entail only specialist crews are let to fly there . The plane was capable to brake on the ice only thanks to “ groove … carved along the track by special equipment , ” explained Mirpuri . The crew had to cope with the airplane ’s navigational equipment like altimeters being compromised by the extreme cold , and even optical peak estimates were difficult , what with Antarctica being almost uniformly white and icy .
But despite all this , the flying was a succeeder – “ a textbook approaching to an uneventful landing , ” as Mirpuri wrote in the Captain ’s logarithm . praise the “ true come through team ” behind the operation , he confirm that “ all goal for this first flight had been met . ”
While the first record flight to Antarctica was in 1928 – in a Lockheed Vega 1 monoplane , piloted by Australian military pilot and explorer George Hubert Wilkins – it wasn’tuntil 2019that a broad - torso plane like the Airbus 340 made it to the continent . Still , as tourism to the Great White South continues to increase – for good or for worse – this month ’s story - making escape set an important precedent for companies like White Fang hoping to welcome more extremophile clientele .
“ When we reach taxicab speed I could hear a one shot of applause from the cabin , ” spell Mirpuri . “ We were joyful . After all , we were write chronicle . ”
