An LC-130 Hercules assigned to the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing sits on the ice runway near McMurdo Station, Antarctica, in November 2023. (Samantha Allen/U.S. Air National Guard)
Five Air National Guard ski-equipped airlifters and 400 airmen are headed to Antarctica for an annual mission supporting research on the frozen continent.
The LC-130 Hercules "ski-birds" of the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing lifted off Wednesday and Thursday from Stratton Air National Guard Base, N.Y., bound for McMurdo Station, Antarctica, according to the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs' website.
Operation Deep Freeze, which dates to 1955, is the logistical support the military provides to the U.S. Antarctic Program managed by the National Science Foundation.
The mission takes advantage of the Southern Hemisphere's summer months when daylight hours run around the clock in Antarctica.
The LC-130s and airmen will support the Antarctic research mission until March, the division said in a statement on Wednesday.
"The aircraft will make a five-day trip to Christchurch, New Zealand, before they complete their journey to Antarctica," the statement said.
The 109th Airlift Wing's primary mission this season is to resupply science stations on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, the Siple Dome Field camp and the Amundson-Scott South Pole Station, the division said.
During the 2023-24 support season, the LC-130s completed 114 missions. Sixty-two were to and from locations on the continent. Fifty-two were trips between Antarctica and New Zealand, according to the statement.
A total of 1,100 tons of cargo, 1,500 passengers and 68,000 gallons of fuel were moved throughout the season, the division said.
The 109th also supports science research in Greenland and provides polar airlifts for the U.S. military.
Ahead of this season's Antarctic mission, plane watchers spotted one of the LC-130s, in distinctive green anti-corrosion paint, landing at Christchurch.
The aircraft was there for depot maintenance by Air New Zealand in Christchurch, according to Jaclyn Lyons, spokeswoman for the 109th.
"Depot level maintenance consists of a total overhaul of the aircraft by removing all engines, wings, and flight controls for inspection," she said by email Thursday.
Depot maintenance, scheduled every five to six years, is done in Christchurch because planes stage from there in support of Operation Deep Freeze, she said.