Punta Arenas, Chile

I arrived in Punta Arenas Chile last week. The trip down was mostly uneventful minus the emergency landing in Guayaquil, Ecuador. An older woman who appreantly needed emidiate medical attention caused quite a stir on the airplane mid flight. Despite all the fuss she turned out alright, but it delayed out landing in Santiago by a few hours. Upon arrival in Punta the staff begun training. New protocals, new regulations, and refreshers on things from on mountain comms, weather forcasting, and rescue procedures. I have also been charged with the tasks of rebuilding toilets, preparing tents, and organizing mountain equipment for the mountain. Needless to say it has been very busy. Traditionally two Twin Otter fixed wing aircraft would have already been sent to Patriot Hills to comlete opening task such as clearing the blue ice runway for the Ilyushin 76 Russian jet to land. However this year on their flight from Canada to Chile an engine was compromised resulting in an engine failure. A new engine had to be ordered and installed this week, so progress onto the ice has been slowed. Today the Twin Otters were cleared to fly and the first crew out onto the ice are away. The Russian Ilyushin 76 arrives in Punta Arenas tomorrow and we will begin loading and preparing it for its departure to the ice sometime in the up coming week. The Ilyushin typically comes with a returning staff of pilots, this year however the pilots are new to Antarctic flying, so their maiden landing could be interesting. As for the rest of the week we are going to continue preparing in hopes of leaving on Tuesday, but weather will always have the final say.