Plane goes missing with 3 Canadian nationals onboard in Antarctica < br />

2013-01-25 08:04:53 GMT+7 (ICT)

ANTARCTICA (BNO NEWS) -- At least three Canadian nationals were on board a plane that went missing in the South Pole, according to the New Zealand government.

The Twin Otter aircraft on a flight from the South Pole to the Italian base in Terra Nova Bay activated its emergency locator transmitter on Wednesday night at around 10 p.m. local time, Maritime New Zealand said.

In its statement, the agency said the beacon was transmitting from the Northern end of the Queen Alexandra Range, within New Zealand's Search and Rescue Region – halfway between the South Pole and McMurdo Station – approximately 680 kilometers (420 miles) in each direction.

The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) is coordinating the search, working with United States, Canadian and Italian authorities. However, in bad weather had been preventing search-and-rescue teams to travel to the area, as there is solid cloud cover high winds of up to 170 km/hr (105 mi/hr), and heavy snow.

Nonetheless, Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator John Ashby said a DC3 aircraft had spent around five hours circling above the site of the beacon, but heavy cloud had prevented any visual contact. It has now returned to McMurdo Base. Other aircraft are also on standby in order to deploy when weather conditions improve.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2013-01-25

Canadians in Antarctica? Isn't that redundant?