Poor weather is stalling efforts to rescue three Australian aircrew stranded in sub-zero temperatures in Antarctica.
Source:
SBS
13 Jan 2006 - 12:00 AM  UPDATED 22 Aug 2013 - 12:18 PM

Two male pilots and one female air support worker are stuck almost 400km south-west of the Australian Antarctic Division's Davis Station since last Thursday.

Their plane was grounded after damage to the hydraulics in its skis used for landing on ice, a spokeswoman for the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) said.

But the trio are in no danger and had tents, heating, food and working communication equipment.

"There's no danger. They've got heating, they've got food," she said.

“It's a matter of waiting for the weather to clear."

Gusty winds and low cloud has so far prevented the three from being rescued, but the weather is expected to clear tomorrow.

"When you've got low cloud, you can sometimes have problems actually telling the difference between the ground and the sky," the spokeswoman said.

Employed by the AAD, the two pilots and the air support worker were retrieving a US weather balloon when the ski hydraulics was damaged.

They are stranded near the side of the Amery Ice Shelf in temperatures as low as minus 25 degrees Celsius.