to the site. If an infrequent flight schedule is
wheeled aircraft arrived in the McMurdo region
adopted, these units should only be emplaced for
and could not land at Pegasus or the seasonal sea
a few days prior to the flight and then retrieved
ice runway, and had insufficient fuel to return to
after the aircraft is safely enroute to New Zea-
New Zealand, this ice area could be designated
land.
as an alternative landing site. This site should be
The low temperatures at this time of year would
reconnoitered and perhaps some emergency
make the snow road from McMurdo and Will-
provisions (sleeping bags, food, tents) should be
iams Field very sound with minimal grooming.
cached in the event they are needed. Possibly the
The ability to perform winter flights to Mc-
rock runway at Dumont D'Urville could be used
Murdo also provides increased safety for station
in an emergency as well. (This runway recently
personnel. Since alternative runways will not be
sustained storm damage and is considered non-
available, we recommend that aircraft with an
operational by the French.)
overhead point-of-safe-return (PSR) be used (e.g.,
C-141).
LITERATURE CITED
Abele, G. (1990) Snow roads and runways. USA
POTENTIAL FOR
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Labora-
OTHER AIRCRAFT
tory, Monograph 90-3.
Having shown that the Pegasus runway can
Arcone S.A., A.J. Delaney, and W. Tobiasson
support the C-141, we believe that virtually any
(1994) Subsurface radar investigation at the
aircraft could safely operate from this glacial ice.
Pegasus glacial-ice runway and Williams Field,
Certification for other aircraft will, of course, be
McMurdo Station, Antarctica. USA Cold Regions
necessary, with attention paid to the tire load and
Research and Engineering Laboratory, CRREL
contact pressure, landing gear arrangement, and
Report 94-12.
total and gang load. This opens the possibility for
the USAP to increase utilization of New Zealand's
covers. In Proceedings of the 3rd International Off-
or another Antarctic partner's aircraft resources.
shore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering Symposium,
In addition, it may be beneficial to consider for
New Orleans, 1217 February, Vol. 3, p. 2933.
the majority of the personnel transport needs pas-
senger aircraft flown by a commercial contractor.
ing wheeled aircraft on sea-ice runways: McMurdo
Cargo aircraft could then focus entirely on mov-
Station, Antarctica. In Proceedings of the Offshore
ing goods and supplies.
Mechanics and Arctic Engineering Conference,
Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 712 June, American
Society of Mechanical Engineers, IV: 2733.
Barthelemy, J.L., and C.E. Thomas (1993) The
SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVE
NCEL sea-ice grader. Military Engineer, 85(558):
LANDING SITES
3032.
Each airport usually has an established list of
Blaisdell, G.L., V. Klokov, and D. Diemand (1995)
nearby alternate landing sites in the event that
Compacted snow runway technology on the Ross
the weather, air traffic, or an emergency make for
Ice Shelf near McMurdo, Antarctica. In Contribu-
problems in landing at the primary site. This is a
tions to Antarctic Research IV, Antarctic Research
prudent practice and is perhaps even more im-
Series, Vol. 67, American Geophysical Union, p.
153-173.
portant in areas with inhospitable terrain for open
field emergency landings.
Brandt, R.E., and S.G. Warren (1993) Solar-heat-
The ability of the Pegasus runway to support
ing rates and temperature profiles in Antarctic
wheeled aircraft at times of the year when Mc-
snow and ice. Journal of Glaciology, 39(131): 99
Murdo normally could only accept ski-equipped
110.
planes highlights the need to search for an alter-
DenHartog, S.L. (1993) Field survey of potential
native site within a few hours flying time of Pe-
airstrip locations, Mt. Howe, Antarctica 1991. USA
gasus. We recommend that a search be made for
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Labora-
natural blue-ice sites in the Royal Society Range
tory, Special Report 93-1.
and along the Scott Coast that could serve as an
Engler, M., A. Guichard, Y. le Tavernier, and J.-
emergency landing site. In the event that a
F. Regrettier (1990) The Dumont D'Urville aero-
92
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