Rapid Part Delivery

A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K Orion aircrew assisted Airmen from US Pacific Command's Joint Task Force Support Forces Antarctica by delivering a mission-essential part for a disabled C-17 transport stuck at Pegasus White Ice Runway, Antarctica, on 27 October. The Orion crew delivered an electronic engine controller for the C-17 along with three maintainers. Under the established Emergency Recovery Support agreement between the US National Science Foundation and New Zealand, and with US LC-130 Ski-Herk crews still in the United States, the RNZAF was called to assist. The RNZAF has regularly conducted flights to the ice with its P-3Ks since 2006, usually in conjunction with routine patrolling of the Southern Ocean.