South pole rescue mission 'standard': pilots

Two pilots who arrived home Wednesday from a rescue mission to the South Pole downplayed the risks and said it's all in a day's work.

Sean Loutitt and Brian Crocker, along with engineer Kevin Riehl, who all work for Kenn Borek Air, arrived home after a trip to the Antarctic to bring out an ailing researcher. They flew the man out on Sunday.

"I mean, it feels good to help somebody," Loutitt said. "We don't try to let that factor into the decisions on to go, and the conditions and stuff, because we're responsible for everybody's lives on board the airplane, so to risk everyone's life for one person is a difficult thing to do."

Crocker says the flight was a "standard trip" for the crew, who often fly to the pole.

"It's no different than any other time going in," he said. "Just be careful and do things the way they're supposed to be done."

It's the tail-end of winter at the South Pole, and a dangerous time to fly there, because of the extreme cold, unpredictable weather and little light. They had to wait at the Rothera research base on the edge of the continent for a week, until the weather cleared enough for them to make the nine-hour flight to the Amundsen-Scott research station at the pole.

This flight was a replica of Loutitt's successful April 2001 mission to remove Dr. Ronald Shemenski from the same research base. That rescue mission was the first that had been made to the pole in winter conditions.

It is safer to fly to the South Pole from November to February, when there is sunlight.

Loutitt said they encountered fewer problems on this flight, and had more light.

Both Loutitt and Crocker are heading back to the region next month, on work contracts.

Kenn Borek Air, which specializes in flying people and equipment into extremely cold-weather environments, gained international attention for that rescue.