A Cancelation, An Abort, and a Success! Here At Last!

Getting to and from McMurdo is always a challenge with lots of surprises. You try to set your expectations low for a smooth travel day. Our first flight was supposed to have been on September 16th, however the weather in McMurdo was too bad. It was canceled, but not in time for some of us to have already gotten up and starting our way to the terminal. 

The next flight attempt was on September 17th. There was no cancellation message, so I checked out of my hotel and proceeded to the terminal only to be told it was cancelled. Went back to the hotel, checked back in, and got back in bed, only to find out that it wasn't canceled, so repeated the process again. 

Before boarding the flight, we watch a series of safety, USAP, and NSF videos that help prepare you for the upcoming process of travel and your deployment.  

Watching preflight videos in the terminal

Getting onboard the NZ Air Force C-130

We finally boarded the plane and took off. Let's just say the NZ C130 is a TIGHT fit with most people having to be knee to knee with their new best friends. 

Here we are blissfully unaware of what was to come....


About 30 min into the flight, the crew mumbled something in a Charlie Brown adult voice that none of us could quite hear, but essentially said there was a mechanical issue, and we had to turn around. Not only did we have to do the 30 min back, but we had to circle to use up fuel as not to land so heavy for ~1.5 hours. After landing, it was decided to scrub for 24 hours. I believe the issue was with the back door not being sealed correctly which was causing pressurization issues. FAN-F-N-Tastic.


The next day, we took off and all went well. We were still packed in like sardines. The scariest part was not the fact the back door was open on the first flight, but trying to navigate to use the toilet! Maneuvering through mountains of legs and small passageways to get to the janky shower curtain only to find a lovely honey pot (think port-o-potty) with nothing to hold onto. You gotta hope no one else opens the curtain!


Second Flight... fingers crossed


This is the tightest configuration I've had to fly in...

Back of the plane where you had to crawl over everything to use the honey pot

Landed in McMurdo to a blustery -35 deg F with wind chill. 

As the plane was a NZ Air Force C130, most of the passengers were from NZ. They get picked up in little green vehicles called Hagglunds. As my friend Sarah put it, they look like something out of Empire Strikes Back on Hoth when they travel across the ice.


Spent the evening unpacking, finding things that don't work in the dorm room, and then to my office the next morning. It's a lot quieter and colder than when I left in January! There's about 300 people here compared to 1000+ later in the year.

My office

Till next time...



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