With the assistance of the Chinese Antarctic expedition’s helicopter Xueying 12, all 52 tourists and researchers aboard the Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy, which was stranded in sea ice in Antarctica for 10 days, were rescued on January 2, 2014. Xueying12 made six flights to evacuate the passengers from the Akademik Shokalskiy to the Australian ship Aurora Australis.

The Russians took notice of the rescue, and rescued passengers expressed their appreciation to rescue personnel through social network sites. Xueying 12 belongs to CITIC Offshore Helicopter Co., Ltd. (COHC), which is a shareholding corporation of COAG. The helicopter formally joined in Chinese Arctic and Antarctic expeditions on November 6, 2013 and participated in the 30th Chinese Antarctic expedition task.

Xueying 12 was provided by COHC, the largest general aviation transportation corporation and the only public corporation on general aviation in China. Xueying 12 overcame various obstacles such as unpredictable weather, limited navigation and meteorological support, pilots having to estimate takeoff and landing positions themselves, high landing risks on the sea ice, and limited rescue devices on the helicopter, and fully used its advantages to provide safe, effective helicopter support and accomplish the task. Xueying 12 will continue to play an important role in future Antarctic expeditions.

Since 2009, the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic expeditions have been equipped with a Kamov Ka-32 helicopter named Xueying that provides strong transport capability. In September 2013, a helicopter named Xueying 12 was purchased. It is a Russian-made Kamov Ka-32A11BC helicopter with accommodation for 14 passengers. Its maximum takeoff and landing weights are both 11 tons, maximum internal and external loads are 3.7 tons and 5 tons, respectively, the maximum speed is 260 km/h, the range is 800 km, the service ceiling is 5200 m, and the absolute ceiling is 3500 m.