Last Flight Of Pegasus

With the sea ice off limits for recreational travel this season, the opportunities to get away from McMurdo Station are pretty limited. No Cape Evans visits. No iceberg outings. No trips to the ice caves.



Looking back toward Ross Island and Mt. Erebus.



Our outdoor adventures have been reduced to travel along the established trails, guided walks through the pressure ridges near Scott Base and... photo ops at the Pegasus airplane crash site!



Tail section still visible above the snow.



The remains of the US Navy C-121 Super Constellation are now barely visible above the surrounding snow.



The ravages of time on the Ice.



Only the tail section and top of the fuselage remain accessible. It wasn't very long ago that visitors could still make their way into the bowels of the wrecked airframe. Now we can only scamper gingerly along those parts of its oh-so-slippery aluminum skin that are sticking out of the ice and snow.



Daredevil wing walker--altitude: 5 feet.



Playing it safe.



In not too many years the only things that will remain of Pegasus will be historical photographs and an airfield named in its honor--gone as the result of an ice sheet that is moving inexorably toward the open ocean and which will eventually drop the twisted remains of this grand old airplane to the bottom of the sea.



Taking it all in.



Pegasus crash landed on October 8, 1970 near Williams Field. The airplane was about 30 minutes away from making a touch down at the annual sea ice runway when the weather began to rapidly deteriorate.



One of the geographic location call names used at McMurdo Staion is VXE-6



Since it was well past the point of safely returning to New Zealand and fuel was running low, the pilots had no choice but to attempt a landing. It took six tries before the wheels rolled onto the surface of the snow.



Trying to imagine what it was like on that day.



As the plane scrubbed off speed it veered from the runway and plowed into a snowbank shearing off the right side landing gear and wing. Incredibly all 68 passengers and 12 crew escaped with only minor injuries.



Parting glance at the mythical flying creature.