21
December
2007
|
18:00 PM
America/New_York

Ohio State Researcher Safe After Plane Crash In Antarctica

COLUMBUS , Ohio – An Ohio State University researcher was aboard an aircraft that crashed in Antarctica earlier this week. All passengers and crew survived the failed takeoff on Monday from a remote field camp on the southernmost continent, according to the National Science Foundation.

Eric Kendrick, a senior research associate at Ohio State , was onboard the DC-3T aircraft as it tried to depart from a remote field camp in West Antarctica . Kendrick is one of several Ohio State researchers making up an international effort to better monitor the ice sheets in Antarctica .

Reports from the NSF say that all passengers and crew survived the crash. Other information is limited because of the remoteness of the crash site and the ongoing investigation by both U.S. and Canadian authorities.

“Eric is among the many Ohio State researchers who have for decades braved one of the planet's harshest environments for the sake of scientific progress. We are greatly relieved that he and the rest of his team appear unharmed after this accident,” said E. Gordon Gee, president of Ohio State .

Kendrick is part of POLENET, a $4.5 million project to plant global positioning system (GPS) trackers and seismic sensors on the bedrock that cradles the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). Ohio State University is the lead institution for the international project which is a key part of the International Polar Year.

More information on the POLENET project can be found at http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/polenet.htm .

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Contact: Terry Wilson, (614) 302-4047; twilson@mps.ohio-state.edu .

Written by Earle Holland, (614) 292-8384; Holland.8@osu.edu