An Australian aviation crew carried out a rare and dangerous midwinter medical evacuation from Antarctica last month, flying into complete darkness and temperatures below minus 43 degrees Celsius to retrieve a US expeditioner facing a medical emergency at the American-operated McMurdo Station. The crew tried again two days later, departing Hobart, Australia, in the early hours of July 31 aboard an Airbus A319 the airline calls Snowbird 1, carrying a team of specialists from the Australian Antarctic Division and the Centre for Antarctic, Remote and Maritime Medicine. The aircraft reached McMurdo Station more than five hours later, landing in what officials described as extremely challenging conditions, including total darkness and temperatures dipping to roughly minus 45.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Details about the patient's identity, condition and the specific nature of the medical emergency have not been made public. Emma Campbell, head of the Australian Antarctic Division, called the operation a complex undertaking carried out in the depths of the Antarctic winter, saying it highlighted both the capability of the division's personnel and the strength of the international partnerships that underpin Antarctic programs worldwide.