McMurdo Sound and Erebus Aurora from Pegasus Crash Site

ON OCTOBER 8, 1970, THE pilots of the Pegasus, a C-121 Lockheed Constellation plane, knew they had a problem. A fierce storm was ravaging the air above Antarctica. But they were forced to fly onward, a lack of fuel making it impossible for them to boomerang back to New Zealand.

A slurry of snow and ice whipped through the air, erasing any and all visibility. The wind caused the aircraft to thrash around and beat the plane so hard it ripped off pieces of its exterior. Soon, the Pegasus was dropping toward the frozen desert below. It crashed atop the ground and skid along the ice before finally drawing to a halt.

Miraculously, the 80 people aboard the plane survived the crash with no major injuries. They were all rescued and able to carry on with their Antarctic research largely unharmed, though likely a bit rattled.

Now, anyone who happens to find themselves near the McMurdo Station can try to take a trip to the crash site. The Pegasus is still there, resting beneath a blanket of snow. Most of the plane is usually covered by layers of ice and snow, though people do like to unbury it to take photographs or carve their names onto its exterior.

Here, during the Winter of 2022 Stu Shaw (Science Tech) and Kyle McQuilkan (Scott Base Station Leader) took an evening trip out to Pegasus in the Winter darkness to capture an Aurora to the North overlooking Mt Erebus, McMurdo Station and Scott Base...