Just after 2am, more than 200,000 kilograms of metal hurtles through the sky to land on a runway made of ice and snow.
Huge white clouds spray out from the massive jet’s tyres as it brakes to a stop, eventually, in a history-making moment on the coldest continent on earth.
Every available camera seemed to be pointed at the three-kilometre runway as the Norse Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner touched down near Antarctica’s Troll research station early on Wednesday (mid-morning AEDT).
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It was the largest aircraft to ever land at Troll Airfield, according to the Norwegian Polar Institute, which runs the neighbouring 500-square-metre research base.
“This demonstrates our capability of performing more effective flight operations to Antarctica by carrying a larger scientific/logistics crew, more cargo with a smaller environmental footprint,” director Camilla Brekke said on X, formerly Twitter.
Photos from the scene showed rugged up researchers and smartly dressed cabin crew members under bright blue spring skies as the temperature hovered about 7 or 8 degrees below freezing.
The moment was hailed by the researchers on board and aviation fans around the world.
