Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard Seventeenth District

Date: October 30, 2007
Contact: Public Affairs 
Phone: 907-463-2065

COAST GUARD COMPLETES MISSION TO NORTH POLE
VIDEO & AUDIO INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE

JUNEAU, Alaska - The Coast Guard successfully reached the North Pole last Thursday as a test of its ability to operate in the Arctic region.

The 1,100 mile flight aboard a Coast Guard C-130 Hercules airplane originated in Barrow at 8:30 a.m., and reached the North Pole at 12:32 p.m., AST. As the airplane headed north the sun rose off the aircraft's right side, but then descended below the horizon as the airplane reached higher latitudes. The sun rose again as the aircraft headed
toward Barrow.

Although the inside of the aircraft was kept at a comfortable temperature for the 21 passengers and crew, temperatures outside reached -40 degrees. To navigate the crew relied on GPS navigation, as magnetic compasses had a fluctuating variation of more than 70 degrees.

As the aircraft crossed and circled 90 degrees north longitude 157 degrees west latitude, the North Pole, it briefly traveled into Friday before returning to Thursday. Before departing for Barrow the aircraft circled the pole and passed through every time zone, briefly making it the fastest moving object on the planet.

Coast Guard history in the Arctic dates back to the 1860s when the first Lighthouse Service Tender was deployed to the region. Thursdays trip to the North Pole was the first time the Coast Guard has reached 90 degrees north in a C-130 exclusively for the purpose of Arctic Domain Awareness.

Click the below links for video and audio interviews:

Video Interview with Rear Adm. A.E. Brooks

Audio Interview with C130, Pilot Lt. Thomas W. Wallin

Audio Interview with C130 Navigator, Chief Petty Officer David W. Boschee

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