Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman met the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) team which returned from their first ever expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula. Argentinean Ambassador Ivan Ivanissevich was also present on the occasion. The Air Chief thanked the Argentinean Government for extending this opportunity to PAF personnel and hoped that the relations between both the countries and their air forces would continue to strengthen even further. He also expressed his desire to invite an Argentinean team to Pakistan next year for an expedition to the Northern Areas of Pakistan. He appreciated the resilience of the PAF team in the extreme weather conditions of the Antarctic region.
The expedition, carrying the slogan ‘Beat the Extreme’ had been planned in collaboration with Argentinean Air Force (AAF). To undertake this uphill task in the South Pole, a four-member team of the PAF left for Rio Gallegos, Argentina from Islamabad. From Rio Gellegos, the team was airlifted by an Argentinean Air Force aircraft from to Marembio (Antarctic Peninsula).
The team along with the Argentinean counterparts conducted the exercise in the Antarctic wilderness facing extreme weather conditions.
Antarctica, the fifth-largest continent, contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages 1.9 km (1.2 mi; 6,200 ft) in thickness, which extends to all but the northernmost reaches of the Antarctic Peninsula.
