Helicopters

Petroleum Helicopters Inc. (PHI) of Lafayette, Louisiana, in 1996 won a competitively bid contract from the NSF to provide McMurdo-based helicopter operations as a part of the planned withdrawal of the U.S. Navy from Antarctica. The first austral summer season of operation was 1996-1997. The contractor provides four commercial helicopters — two AS350B2 Squirrels and two Bell 212 civilian Huey. The Squirrels are smaller than the Huey, carrying half the passengers and 60 percent of the maximum cargo load, but have an altitude and airspeed advantage over the medium-lift Huey.

A helicopter lands near the Beardmore Camp in the Transantarctic Mountains.