the new york air national guard's 109th airlift wing operates ski-equipped lc-130 hercules transports that fly into arctic regions. in 2006, two lc-130s closed the 2006 operation deep freeze located at mcmurdo station near the south pole. the mission ended because the temperature dropped to almost minus in three days. since 1988, the squadron had provided the air supply bridge to mcmurdo, landing with wheels on an ice runway near the station. however, as it got colder, the ski-equipped lc-130s landed on a snow-covered skiway on the ross ice shelf a few miles from the station.