Captain Amy MacInnes, 29, landed at the pole Dec. 4 at 4 p.m. EST.

The trip was the first Unaalik Aviation made to the pole. The journey was undertaken as part of the airline's contract with Antarctic Adventure Network.

"It's amazing. It's wild," said airline owner Jimi Onalik.

Onalik opened the charter airline company in Iqaluit last year. They run charters from Iqaluit to Greenland and fly to other communities in Nunavut. The latest gig is their most exotic, though -- dropping adventure tourists off at a penguin colony, flying to the South Pole and ferrying mountain climbers off to some of the world's most majestic peaks in the Southern hemisphere.

Onalik expressed pride in MacInnes and her flight crew. Co-pilot Robert Palfreeman and Andrew Patey made the flight with MacInnes. Co-captain Colin Gunn was unable to complete the journey because of a death in his family.

"Three of them made it down, but all 12 of us are there," said Onalik.

Unaalik Aviation currently employs 12 people.

"I'm really proud. It says a lot about our employees," he said.

The flight crew is scheduled to arrive back in Iqaluit in March.

Onalik said they will begin their 16-day journey home on Feb. 20. He imagines the trip home will be as exciting as the trip South.

"It sounded like a fun trip. They went through New Orleans, Panama, Belize, Ecuador, Chile and Peru."