The New Zealand Defence Force has carried out a "high-stakes" medical evacuation from Antarctica’s McMurdo Station.
In a post to X, the US Embassy to New Zealand said the Defence Force safely brought home a patient working for the US Antarctic Program.
The NZDF said the 24-hour mission picked up a New Zealander who needed "higher medical attention" and brought them back to Christchurch.
The crew woke up at 2am yesterday, landing in Antarctica at the last sunrise around midday, and taking off shortly after 2pm.
"At this time of the year, there are very narrow windows of favourable weather conditions, so the crew threaded the needle between weather systems and dwindling daylight to land at Phoenix Airfield on the Ross Ice Shelf, near McMurdo Station."
The mission coincided with the final sunset before the continent went into a dark winter, and won't see the sunrise until August 19.
It shared photos showing an Air Force Hercules landing on the ice, lowering its rear ramp with an ambulance driving to it.
"These missions are never routine - they demand precision, courage, and world-class capability every single time," US Chargé d’Affaires David Gehrenbeck said.
"Grateful for New Zealand’s investment in defence capabilities and exceptionally skilled crews that make these extreme operations possible.
"This is what close partnership looks like in action."
The Defence Force carried out similar medical evacuations in 2024 and 2025.
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