Scientist to be lifted from South Pole

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Canadian rescue planes are flying to Chile to be ready to evacuate a seriously ill member of the scientific team at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.

The National Science Foundation, which manages the U.S. Antarctic Program, declined to identify either the worker or his illness, saying he had requested anonymity.

It said a final decision had not yet been reached about whether to evacuate him, but that preparations were being made out of concern that his sickness might worsen, the New York Times said Friday.

It is nearly spring at the pole, but frigid temperatures, high winds and rapid, unpredictable changes in the weather can still make it treacherous or impossible to fly. The average temperature is minus 76 degrees.

Usually, planes do not begin flying to the pole until late October or early November.

In October 1999, Air National Guard crews made a special flight to Amundsen-Scott to evacuate Dr. Jerri Nielsen, who had diagnosed her own breast cancer while working at the base.