http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/auspac/04/26/antarctic.rescue.02/index.html

COMMENTS: It is curious that now there is only one plane and one doctor. CNN originally reported 11 people were to be taken out. According to Enterprise, Reporters in New Zealand have talked to one of them (and it wasn't the doctor who was ill)!
And they kept TWO Twin Otters on the ground for 10 hours? And what about the four missing 'patients' in the New Zealand Hospital?

The question is: Are they feeding our Conspiracy Minds so we will create the story for them? OR, are they really trying to cover up something...OR, perhaps Both?

CNN: Re-writing the Story to fit the SPIN (If you ignore the facts, they will just go away)
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Antarctic rescue plane takes off for Chile

The Twin Otter airplane arrived at the National Science Foundations's station on Tuesday

ON THE NEWS
Gary Tuchman: Antarctic rescue

April 26, 2001
Web posted at: 11:48 a.m. EDT (1548 GMT)

ROTHERA, Antarctica (CNN) -- A plane bringing an ailing doctor back for medical treatment has taken off from the British Antarctic research station at Rothera.

The twin-engine propeller plane with Dr. Ronald S. Shemenski aboard left the station Wednesday afternoon, bound for Punta Arenas in southern Chile.

Shemenski had rested overnight at Rothera, after being air-lifted from the Amundsen-Scott Station near the South Pole in the depth of a polar winter.

From Chile, he will travel to Denver, Colorado, where he will receive medical treatment for a life-threatening disorder.

Ailing Antarctic researcher headed to Denver
From KMGH, Denver

Shemenski, 59, recently suffered a bout of gallstones and pancreatitis. He was the only physician among 50 people at the Amundsen-Scott Station, where the National Science Foundation conducts astronomy and astrophysics research.

While Shemenski is doing well now, U.S. officials decided to bring him back to the United States for treatment in order to avoid further attacks, which could be life threatening.

The plane dropped off a replacement for Shemenski at the polar station: Dr. Betty Carlisle, a veteran of two earlier Antarctic missions, will remain at Amundsen-Scott until the Antarctic winter ends in early November.

A crew of three, plus Carlisle, made the 1,346-mile (2,153-kilometer) flight from Rothera to the pole on Tuesday -- a dangerous and rare event in the Antarctic winter.

Shemenski, himself a physician, requires urgent medical attention.
Poor visibility and extreme cold limit most air travel to a six-month stretch from October through March, before the onset of the Antarctic winter. In April, the South Pole typically receives just four hours of sunlight per day. High winds can drive temperatures down to -140 degrees Fahrenheit (-96 Celsius).

"As far as I know, this is unprecedented," Valentine said. "The only thing that was close to it was when they took Jerri Nielsen out."

Nielsen was the Amundsen-Scott base physician until October 1999, when she was flown out after discovering a lump in her breast that required treatment. In that case, Valentine said, "The weather was getting better day by day, where now it's getting worse day by day."

Shemenski, of Oak Harbor, Ohio, holds a medical degree from the University of Tennessee and a doctorate in materials science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He had been the polar base's physician since November, Valentine said.

Carlisle, his replacement, has done two previous tours at Amundsen-Scott, in 1992-93 and 1995-96.

Three doctors in a row have now encountered medical problems during the Antarctic winter. In addition to Nielsen and Shemenski, Dr. Robert Thompson had to be evacuated from the base last year after he injured a disk in his back.

"The odds of this happening are just too high to calculate, and I really can't explain it," Thompson said. "It's strange. It makes you think of a jinx."

National Correspondent Gary Tuchman, Enviromental Correspondent Natalie Pawelski and CNN.com Writer Matt Smith contributed to this report.