The felled Kamov KA32A
BEIJING - A helicopter returning from delivering supplies and equipment to the 28th Antarctic research expedition crashed in the small hours of Friday (Beijing time), the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said. No casualties were reported.
"The crash won't have much effect on the inland scientific expedition at the South Pole, because the delivery of supplies and research equipment there was finished before Wednesday," Qu Tanzhou, director of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration, said at a news conference on Friday afternoon.
The two crew members in the Xueying - Snow Eagle - were reported to be safe, though one was slightly injured. They were both brought back to the icebreaker Xuelong, Qu said.
The cause of the crash is under investigation and will be released on the SOA's website in a timely manner, he said.
The Ka32 call sign "Snow Eagle" before the crash