Free Republic

The make of jet plane that for years linked Christchurch to Antarctica has taken its last Ice flight. C-141s were the first jets to land in Antarctica and have transported people and supplies to the United States' McMurdo Station in Antarctic for the past 40 years. Although destined to become scrap metal on its return to the States, the last great old grey StarLifter to make the Ice flight was farewelled with much sentiment by Antarctic personnel yesterday in Christchurch before it flew back to the United States. "It's like men and their cars – you get kind of attached...

6/24/2003 - MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- A C-141 Starlifter aircrew from here led three people on a civilian cargo aircraft to safety after an apparent navigational-equipment malfunction caused them to become disoriented in bad weather off the coast of New Zealand. “They appeared to have no reliable navigational fix,” navigator Maj. Jeff Puckett told a TV news crew. “That’s not a good place to be over the South Pacific.” The two Canadian pilots and a New Zealander engineer were flying a twin-engine Convair 580 from American Samoa to New Zealand on June 18 when air traffic controllers...