Exploring The Blue Ice Runway, Pegasus Field Antarctica

Pegasus Field is an airstrip in Antarctica, and also the southernmost of three airfields serving McMurdo Station.

Pegasus is actually a blue ice runway capable of handling wheeled aircraft year-round.

The other two are the snow runways at Williams Field that are limited to ski-equipped aircraft and the Ice Runway on the sea-ice available during the summer Antarctic field season.

The field is named after Pegasus, a plane C-121 Lockheed Constellation which is still visible there in the snow after crashing in bad weather on October 8, 1970, and luckily no one on board was injured.

The Lockheed Constellation crashed due to the very low visibility landing conditions that day.

This type of aircraft was the aircraft of the President of the United State, Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The remains of the plane still are left there to this day, buried beneath snow and residing alone in the McMurdo Sound in Antarctica.

Because of that, it attracts many visitors and often gets parts of it dug out for taking pictures.

If the tailpiece is dug out, of course, there you shall see how people have carved out their names all over the orange tail.

What is impressive is that the de-icing gear is still there too. Even though the plane is most f the time buried in snow, it is remarkable that the body f the plane is in god condition, considering the harsh weather elements that surround it all the time.

Over the years it has been covered in snow and ice as well, but people wanting to have memories of the plane, they do dug it out, at least part of it so that the world would see the alluring place where it stands forever and ever.

Nevertheless, the airfield is a major and important link to the rest of the world with Antarctica, where usually flights were allowed during daytime (summer months), except on emergencies, but on 11 September 2008, USAF C-17 Globemaster III successfully completed the first landing in Antarctica using night-vision goggles.


Discover more from LN247

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Advertisement

Most Popular This Week

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

More from Author

Advertisement

Read Now

South Africa-Botswana Border Closed Due to Heavy Rainfall and Flooding

The South African Border Management Authority has temporarily shut down the Grobler’s Bridge crossing between South Africa and Botswana due to severe rainfall and flooding in the region. This critical border post, located in northern South Africa, is a vital trade route, particularly for miners from Zambia and...

Federal Fire Service to Enforce Mandatory Fire Insurance for Buildings

The Federal Fire Service is set to mandate fire insurance as part of its building inspection checklist. This decision emerged from a strategic meeting between the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and the Federal Fire Service at the NAICOM headquarters, aimed at strengthening their collaboration. Fire insurance provides coverage...

South Sudan’s Displaced Families Struggle Amid Rising Floods

South Sudan's seasonal flooding, once a natural part of the country's climate, has now turned into an annual catastrophe, displacing hundreds of thousands and worsening the humanitarian crisis. Families, like that of Nyabuot Reat Kuor, a mother forced from her home in Gorwai, are bearing the harshest...

Discover more from LN247

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading