Chinese Helicopter Rescues 52 From Ship Trapped in Antarctic Ice
In a dramatic operation displaying unusual international harmony in one of the world’s most remote and inhospitable places, a red-and-white Chinese helicopter on Thursday rescued 52 passengers trapped for more than a week aboard an icebound Russian research ship in Antarctica, ferrying them a dozen at a time to an Australian icebreaker.
The twin-rotored helicopter, based on a Chinese icebreaker, the Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, flew several sorties across miles of packed ice to pluck scientists, tourists and journalists from a makeshift landing zone next to the marooned vessel, the Akademik Shokalskiy.