Yesterday morning was the first test landing on the new Antarctic runaway designed and built by ENEA Institute and the Italian Air Force, in collaboration with the Fire Brigade. The project was made possible thanks to a dedicated funding from the Ministry of University and Research. At 4.30 a.m. Italian time, a C-130J of the 46th Air Force Brigade of the Italian Air Force successfully made the first landing on the semi-prepared runway destined to become an international hub in Antarctica at the service of scientific research. The flight carried materials and food to deal with the emergency caused by the reduced thickness of sea ice, which this year did not allow the landing of large aircraft on the pack in front of the Italian coastal base Mario Zucchelli, in the Terranova Bay. The track, 60 meters wide and completed for the first 1,700 meters on the 2,200 provided for by the project, was built for the first time on a moraine, taking advantage of the debris deposits overlooking Boulder Clay, an over 100-meter-thick glacier located 4 km from the Zucchelli station. In the coming months, work will be completed to make the airframe fully operational as early as the next Antarctic expedition.
9COLONNE - NIAF
