Today, November 21st , a C–130J military transport aircraft of the 46th Air Force Pisa Air Brigade, landed on the airstrip designed and built by ENEA and the Italian Air Force, the first in the Antarctic continent on a moraine
First test landing this morning on the new Antarctic airstrip designed and built by ENEA and the Italian Air Force, in collaboration with the Fire Brigade, thanks to a dedicated funding from the Ministry of University and Research. At 4.30 am Italian time, a C-130J of the 46th Air 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, not only Italian.
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 large aircraft to land on the pack in front of the Italian Mario Zucchelli coastal Base at Terranova Bay.
60 meters wide and completed for the first 1,700 meters out of the 2,200 envisaged by the project, the track was built for the first time on a moraine, taking advantage of the debris deposits that dominate Boulder Clay, a glacier over 100 meters thick, located 4 km from Zucchelli station. The works that will make the airfield fully operational starting from the next Antarctic expedition will be completed in the coming months.
Thanks and credit to: https://www.enea.it/it/Stampa/comunicati/antartide-primo-volo-tecnico-sulla-nuova-pista-italiana?fbclid=IwAR3G3LwWD-FFF9J4QTMzn52mi31nCjOky9aEPBR6hsD8qVTm5oGM0xxBR4A
More videos of the C130J landing on the above ENEA website .