PUNTA ARENAS, Chile - After his daring rescue from the South Pole, an ailing U.S. research worker left yesterday on a flight to the United States for medical treatment, according to an official with a Chilean air ambulance service.
The Lear jet left from Chile's southernmost city, Punta Arenas, for Houston just before 9 a.m. EDT, said Marcos Delgado, manager of Aerosan, which was assisting in the transfer operation.
The flight to Houston is to take from 12 to 14 hours, allowing for brief stops in Santiago; Lima, Peru, and Panama City, Panama, Delgado said.
The man, whose name and illness have not been disclosed at his request, was rescued from the South Pole in a daring mission by two turboprop planes from Calgary, Canada.
The rescue planes landed late Saturday in this city 1,900 miles south of Santiago and reporters saw the bearded man, who appeared to be in his early 50s, step off the plane and walk on the tarmac toward an airport restroom.
The rescue planes landed in Punta Arenas after stopping at a Britain's Rothera base on the coast of Antarctica, said Elaine Hood of Raytheon Polar Services, the Denver-based company that manages the U.S. base.
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