"South Pole Rescue Flight Of 2 Sick Workers Arrives In Chile"

"SANTIAGO, Chile — A small plane with two sick U.S. workers arrived safely in Chile late Wednesday after leaving Antarctica in a daring rescue mission from a remote South Pole research station, officials said.

After making a stop for a few hours at a British station on the edge of Antarctica, the two workers were flown to the southernmost Chilean city of Punta Arenas, the National Science Foundation said in a statement published on its Facebook page.

In a hectic two days of flying, the rescue team flew 3,000 miles roundtrip from the British station Rothera to pick up the workers at the U.S. Amundsen-Scott station at the South Pole. They arrived back at Rothera on Wednesday afternoon, said Peter West, spokesman for the foundation, which runs the U.S. station. Then the two workers boarded a second Canadian-owned Twin Otter plane that took off for Punta Arenas."

Seth Borenstein and Eva Vergara report for the Associated Press June 22, 2016.