Landing on blue ice
Cruising Heights|January 2022
For the first time in history, a 190-tonne Airbus A340 successfully landed on a frozen runway made of "blue glacial ice" in Antarctica. The A-340 landed at Antarctica after taking off from Cape Town, South Africa- 4,630 km away and flying for five hours.
Landing on blue ice

The trip was commissioned by Wolf’s Fang a luxury holiday resort in the South Pole to deliver supplies to people who want to experience the extreme cold during their vacation. The aircraft and crew belonged to Hi-Fly a boutique aviation company that not only hires aircraft and crew but also takes care of the maintenance, logistics, and insurance.

Captain Carlos Mirpuri, who piloted the plane is Vice President of Hi Fly. Significantly there are airports in Antarctica and to land on the frozen ice-cold surface pilots have to take into account a number of factors like from slippery surfaces and weight of the aircraft while landing.

This story is from the January 2022 edition of Cruising Heights.

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This story is from the January 2022 edition of Cruising Heights.

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