The Little Plane That Could

The eight-seat rescue craft also carried in a new doctor for the South Pole station.

In a daring rescue, a small propeller plane carried Dr. Ronald S. Shemenski out of Antarctica last week. He is suffering from a serious illness.

To reach him at the Amundsen-Scott Station, pilots braved high winds, temperatures of -65°F and the darkness of a South Pole winter.

Because of the awful weather, flights in or out of Antarctica are nearly impossible from late February through October.

Only 50 people spend the winter at the South Pole station. Shemenski was the only doctor there.

While the flight was risky, Shemenski would have been in great danger had he stayed. He has pancreatitis, a dangerous illness that needed medical attention-and fast! Worse weather in the coming months would have made a rescue impossible.