Pulling the plug

We had planned to make two more tries to make it out to Roosevelt Island, as it's getting late in the season, so today and tomorrow were our options.  The morning started out as usual, and a call from the field indicated that the weather was improving, so we had hope...

But today, something much more serious intervened.  Another airplane is currently missing in the transantarctic mountains, and all resources are currently committed to the search and rescue effort.  There has been an NSF press release about this incident, and it is being reported in New Zealand and also in the the global press.  We still don't know anything about what happened, and still have not been able to locate the aircraft.  

So it makes sense that all resources are being directed towards the search and rescue mission.  In light of this, a field season in which we failed to make it to the field seems like a very small problem.  We have spent most of the day trying to learn more about what is happening, and our thoughts are in the transantarctic mountains this evening.  

Tomorrow we start the process of "returning from the field"- stowing away our field gear, shipping cargo back to the US, and in a few days getting on a plane back towards home.  In the meantime, we are hoping for a positive outcome soon for the downed aircrew.  Fingers crossed, but this time not for our own flight but for the rescue flight.