On 3rd January 2025, the President of Chile Gabriel Boric, landed at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, therefore beginning the first official visit of Latin American president at the South Pole. The presidential flight was organized by the Chilean armed forces and executed by Fuerza Aérea de Chile – FACh (the Chilean Air Force), within Operación Estrella Polar III (Operation Polar Star III).
Although this year´s flight of the Chilean president to the South Pole was one-of-a-kind operation – about which we write below – it was already the third Antarctic mission of the FACh, within which the Chilean military aircraft landed at the South Pole.
The first Operation Polar Star was executed in November of 1984. The goal of this operation was to perform the first Chilean flight to Antarctic with landing at the South Pole, organised and completed solely by the country´s air force and its own means.
The flight was performed by two DHC-6-300 Twin Otter aircraft from Grupo de Aviación Nº 6 (the 6th Aviation Group) in Punta Arenas. During that mission, the crews practised stellar navigation on polar routes, usage of special snow sensors mounted on the aeroplanes, as well as operation of radio and weather equipment in extreme climate conditions of the South Pole.
Operación Estrella Polar II was organised in January of 1995. After the 13,206-kilometre-long flight that lasted twenty-six hours, two Twin Otter aircraft of the FACh again landed at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.
The third Polar Star exercise of the FACh began in the evening of 2nd January, when the Chilean president, along with other authorities and scientists, left Santiago on board of the governmental Boeing 767-300ER and headed to Chabunco Air Base, in Punta Arenas. Then, after a security briefing and collection of necessary winter equipment, the presidential delegation boarded a Gulfstream G-IV jet and continued its journey through the Magallanes and the so-called Chilean Antarctica Region to Estación Polar Científica Conjunta Glaciar Unión (Union Glacier Scientific Station).
The presidential delegation reached the Union Glacier station at about 9:30 a.m. There, they changed the aircraft once again and boarded two Twin Otter aeroplanes and two MH-60M Black Hawk helicopters (a Chilean designation of Sikorsky S-70i rotorcraft, not to be mistaken with MH-60M in service with the US Army 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment). The final 1,140 kilometres of the South Pole journey were covered in about six hours and at around 5 p.m. on 3rd January 2025, the President of Chile and his co-travellers landed at the Amundsen-Scott station.
The Chilean president stayed at the US polar station for about two hours and completed a guided tour of the facility. Then, Gabriel Boric began his return journey and reached Punta Arenas in the morning hours of 4th January.
As already mentioned earlier, it was the first official visit of the Latin American president at the South Pole. The Chilean head of state was accompanied by the Minister of National Defence Maya Fernández, the Minister of the Environment Maisa Rojas, the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Gloria de la Fuente, as well as the three commanders-in-chief: General Javier Iturriaga del Campo (the Army), Admiral Juan Andrés De La Maza (the Navy) and General Hugo Rodríguez (the FACh).
In his official statement to the Chilean national television, Gabriel Boric emphasized that his journey showed the commitment Chile has for Antarctica, to be and continue to be a continent of science and peace. However, he pointed the operation was also a confirmation of Chilean claim to sovereignty in this region (for a number of years, Chile recognizes a share of Antarctica, officially designated Commune of Antártica, as integral part of the country – however, the Chilean claim to Antarctica is not internationally recognised and also overlaps with other claims by Argentina and the United Kingdom).
Nevertheless, setting aside the political matters, Operación Estrella Polar III was also interesting in terms of aviation.
It was the first time, the Polish-manufactured Sikorsky S-70i helicopters reached the South Pole (the rotorcraft in service with the FACh were manufactured by PZL Mielec, Sikorsky´s subsidiary in Poland). The Chilean MH-60Ms flew to the Amundsen-Scott station from Santiago, covering more than 6,800 kilometres from Pudahuel Air Base to the South Pole.
One of the helicopters was flown by the FACh Commander-in-Chief General Hugo Rodríguez himself, while the other was piloted by Captain Natalia Henríquez Bravo, who became the first female aviator in history to land at the South Pole with a rotorcraft.
According to the official statement of the FACh, preparations to Operación Estrella Polar III lasted about twelve months and included special training of the aviation crews, as well as logistic and rescue support of the presidential journey.
All photos from Operación Estrella Polar III – Press Directoriate of the President of Chile (Dirección de Prensa, Presidencia de la República de Chile). Information from the Chilean government press releases were used. Infographic with route map – Chilean Ministry of Defence (Ministerio de Defensa Nacional)
