[While exploring a bit, recent news about Airbus, for my previous post on Airbus Freighters, I came across an interesting story...so, here we go... (MSFS flyers, please see note at the end of my text, below...) ...]

We're aware and have seen pictures of the (specially equipped) C-130 Hercules or the (versatile and STOL capable) DHC-6 Twin Otter landing on the ice field Runways of Antarctica. However, even though (commercial) jet planes have often been deployed on sightseeing excursions over and around the Cold Continent, landing of such jet planes there is a rather rare event. On the record, a few (commercial) jet-planes e.g., B757s/B767s have, indeed, landed in Antarctica. Notably, Icelandair and Icelandic pilots and crew, relying on those past-prime (but sturdy and proven) Boeing a/c, have made several daring (and exciting) trips to Antarctica and have successfully landed there. In fact, the first ever landing of a commercial passenger airliner (a B757-200ER) on an ice runway in Antarctica occurred on November 26, 2015, in partnership with Loftleidir Icelandic. More recently, just this year, in January 2022, a B767-300ER, also, of Icelandair landed there. 

A landing in Antarctica of such commercial jet planes, surely means that, the Pilots must be constantly thinking how to, as soon as possible, safely lift-off with their planes, and head back home to normal human habitations and normal weather conditions...I invite you to watch this video clip of the Icelandair B767 touching down on (and also taking off from) the icefields in Antarctica. Please search for the short 4 min video clip, "Icelandair B767 Landing and Takeoff in Antarctica 2022". Notice, at 1m:17s mark, how the plane, after landing becomes obscured, completely engulfed by the scattered snow powder. The takeoff sequence, starting at 2m:55s, is also quite spectacular...it must have been surely a great relief to these daring Pilots, to (safely) rotate, then climb up and above the snow dust, and retracting the gears (seen during the last few seconds of the video), and finally banking the jet homeward...!

Now, per my Title, less than a year ago, on November 2, 2021, the first-ever Airbus A340 aircraft accomplished the journey down to the White Continent. The plane departing Cape Town, South Africa, flew 2,500 nautical miles to Antarctica in just over five hours. The flight was sponsored by Hi Fly, a boutique aviation outfit based in Portugal. Here is an excellent 2m:19s video clip of this historical feat. Please search for this (or similar) keywords, "Hi Fly lands first ever Airbus A340 in Antarctica". It's great to see at 1m:30s mark, after successful landing and stop, the (well-deserved) congratulatory handshakes and smiling faces in the cockpit...a job, well-done, indeed...Hi Fly (9H-SOL) is an A340-313HGW (High Gross Weight) a/c, suitable for carrying heavy supplies to the Antarctica Stations. The aircraft was carefully chosen to perform well in this extreme environment. It was a proven aircraft that has delivered, every time, also, highly reliable, comfortable, with an excellent safety record. Its exceptional range and 4-engine redundancy made it ideal for this type of remote operation. It is powered by CFM (56) series trusted powerplants, the same ones you can see in my A340 pictures below, and you may even be able to spot the "CFM" log on the close-up shots of the engines, in my set below...

"There was "attention and anxiety" in the cockpit as the 190-tonne plane approached the runway in Antarctica. The runway had to have special grooves carved into it to allow for more friction (and braking effect) as the aircraft landed, which would have otherwise slipped down the icy course due to its heavy supply cargo. The pilots also had to wear special eye gear due to the glare coming off the polar ice. The blending of the runway with the surrounding terrain and the immense white desert around, makes height judgment challenging, to say the least, the captain said". Thankfully, the Captain and the rest of the A340's crew managed to land safely, and they took less than three hours to deliver all of the cargo. Their whole roundtrip flight took about ~13 [= (5+3+5)] hours, so, literally, the Crew could have left Cape Town after breakfast at 7am, and returning, in time, for a (late) dinner at 8pm...🙂...sounds amazing...wonders of modern aviation...!

The actual Airbus A340-300 belongs to Hi Fly Malta, which is a Maltese charter airline based at Malta International Airport and a subsidiary of the Portuguese charter airline Hi Fly. And, here, below, please find pictures from the fictional version of the same flight, with (also) an Airbus A340-300, at the control of yours truly..., specially equipped with a GTN 750 popup for (enhanced) situational awareness...🙂..., sporting a color of my choosing (Olympic Airlines, nicknamed OLYMPIA, this being one of my favorite liveries...), lifting off Cape Town (FACT) and making the long voyage to NZIR, McMurdo Station's Sea Ice Runway. The actual A340 had landed, at a different location, on the "blue glacial ice" at the Wolf's Fang property, a remote and spectacular camp site near the Ellsworth Mountains, the highest mountain ranges in Antarctica.

I wish I could better convey the loneliness of my flight...(...🙂...please excuse this bit of daydreaming here...from our make-believe world of aviation and pilotage...) once past Cape Town till near the very end of my trip, when I could finally catch sight of the Ice Runway, breathing a sigh of relief... (see my screenshots below)....For thousands and thousands of miles, I saw nothing, no plane, no land, and absolutely no traces of any human settlements...just the blue skies, the cold waters of the Southern Ocean, and of course the comforting sound of the gently humming CFM engines....! As seen in one of my shots (7th from last), below, I've opted to pass by (12,448 ft) Mt Erebus, the dangerous mountain on Ross Island, marked in history, forever, as the infamous site of the Mt. Erebus disaster (aka: Air New Zealand Flight 901) ...

Thanks for your interest...! Good flying...!!

[AS(Antarctica), CLS(A340-300)]

[Note for MSFS Flyers: If you wish to take your (own) Airbus e.g., A320 (or even the B737) to McMurdo Station's Ice Runway, please look for the file "McMurdo Station - William Field". Here is a bit of excerpt from the description. "...Our VA created an event transporting goods to McMurdo Station - Williams Field in Antarctica.  There was no scenery nor a runway. This is a barren wasteland of nothingness so whatever is included is just for visual enhancement when logging the flight here. The village is already built in the game, I take no credit, just what is at the Williams Field. It is mainly for our VA but if anyone else feels the need to fly into this icy wasteland feel free. Here at the bottom of the world, an icy no man's land. Dark majority of the time with devastatingly cold temperatures..."...Note ends, "This area is certainly not for the faint of heart!"...Oh well...It will not be a far-fetched exercise, after all, since a real Airbus jet has done it too now...]

Edited September 11, 20223 yr by P_7878

Great set of shots! 😉 

 

Great article. I'm near FACT and saw the A340 flying out that day in November....shortly afterwards, all outgoing flights from the area were banned due the the world's knee jerk reaction to the new covid variant discovered here.

Appreciated the comments, Peter and Will...!!

 

6 hours ago, Peter Webber said:

Great article. I'm near FACT and saw the A340 flying out that day in November....shortly afterwards, all outgoing flights from the area were banned due the the world's knee jerk reaction to the new covid variant discovered here.

Thanks much for chiming in...!! It must have been great seeing this history-making Airbus...flying out...🙂... (The A340 is a nice plane, I recall LH was flying the -600 from U.S. to EU often, have travelled on it several times....) ...

Fine shots from another Plane that is missing in MSFS, but hopefully at some time we will see one..

cheers 😉

On 9/12/2022 at 9:19 AM, pmplayer said:

Fine shots from another Plane that is missing in MSFS, but hopefully at some time we will see one...

cheers 😉

Thanks, yes, it will be good 4-engined Airbus Long-hauler to have....in MSFS...maybe after the (FBW) A380....