US Air Force plane turns back from Antarctica after Russian missile threat Mira Bhakta Wed, August 19, 2026 at 10:13 PM UTC 234 A U.S. Air Force plane heading from New Zealand to Antarctica was forced to turn around Tuesday due to a “potentially hazardous” space activity warning. The American C17 Globemaster aircraft, using call sign ICE28, initially took off from Christchurch, New Zealand, around 9:00 a.m. local time but returned back to Christchurch less than three hours later due to a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) sent by New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
US Air Force plane turns back from Antarctica after Russian missile threat
Mira Bhakta Wed, August 19, 2026 at 10:13 PM UTC
234
A U.S. Air Force plane heading from New Zealand to Antarctica was forced to turn around Tuesday due to a “potentially hazardous” space activity warning.
The American C-17 Globemaster aircraft, using call sign ICE28, initially took off from Christchurch, New Zealand, around 9:00 a.m. local time but returned back to Christchurch less than three hours later due to a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) sent by New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
A spokesperson from CAA told The Hill Tuesday that it was made aware of potentially hazardous activity by Russia’s state air traffic management corporation, “resulting in the issuance of a NOTAM advising pilots of the hazard.”
On Wednesday, the spokesperson revealed that it was made aware by Russia of a planned missile launch.
“[We were] made aware by the Russian air traffic agency of a planned missile launch and associated potential hazard to international airspace, within New Zealand’s Oceanic Flight Information Region (FIR),” New Zealand's CAA wrote.
The region is what CAA describes on its website as airspace over the high seas that New Zealand manages under the International Civil Aviation Organization's regional air navigation agreement.
Advertisement
FIR includes a 30-million-square-kilometer area that is mostly international waters, according to New Zealand’s air traffic management authority, spanning the South Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean and the Tasman Sea.
“We put in place a danger area and issued a NOTAM to alert aircraft operators to the potential hazard. This does not prevent aircraft from flying through the area, operators make their decisions based on the information available,” the agency continued.
The flight was scheduled as a part of the U.S. Air Force's winter fly season, which transports researchers and necessary equipment to Antarctica before summer research season begins in the region. The aircraft is one flight that is scheduled annually to fly between Christchurch and both the U.S. and New Zealand’s research bases in Antarctica.
6:13 p.m. EDT.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Source: "AOL Breaking"
Source: Breaking
Published: August 20, 2026 at 05:55PM on Source: PRIME TIME
#ShowBiz#Sports#Celebrities#Lifestyle