Sick man airlifted from South Pole

It is the third medical rescue from the South Pole in four years

A rescue flight has taken off with a sick worker from a research station in the South Pole, following repeated delays.

Snow and wind had held up the rescue attempt for five days and the plane had been forced to wait at the British Rothera Air Station on Antarctica, more than 2,100 kilometres (1,300 miles) from the pole.

But, after reaching the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, the twin-engine plane lifted off again at about 0900 GMT, said Valerie Carroll of Raytheon Polar Services, the Colorado company that manages the polar station.

"Definitely the weather at the bottom of the world is very fickle in the spring," she added.

The plane is flying in the dark because the sun is not due to rise over the South Pole until spring begins in the southern hemisphere on Tuesday.

The sick man, whose name has been withheld at his own request, can walk but may need surgery.

Unconfirmed reports said he was suffering from a bladder infection.

The rescuers are flying the employee back to Rothera and then to the southern tip of Chile for the return flight to the US.

In the event of more bad weather, it had been planned to fly 1,280 km (800 miles) to McMurdo Station on the coast of Antarctica to rendezvous with a US military aircraft from New Zealand.

It is the third such medical rescue from the South Pole in four years.