Another Boomerang

It is departure day at the Pole. Everyone is anxious to leave. You settle in to station life quickly and adapt well to the daily routine at Pole. But once your departure day has come everyone is anxious to leave. We are watching the flight schedule, the departure times from MCM, as well as the estimated arrival times at Pole. The first flight to Pole is usually the PAX in/out (passenger in and out flight).
We go outside waiting for the plane to land.  Far in the distance we can see the plane appear in the sky. It is the reflection of the Sun that you first notice. The plane is a Hercules C-130. The propellers leave a white trail behind. We notice that the plane is still unusually high. Is it our perception? After a few more minutes it becomes clear that the plane is maintaining altitude. It turns, makes a loop over the airstrip and heads back into the direction it came from.
Communciation tells us that the skis didn't deploy. Mechanical problems. Like yesterday. We go inside and wait for the next flight.
Luckily another flight will be coming in later in the afternoon.
We end up leaving Pole in the afternoon, arriving at Pegasus airfield near MCM in the evening. With temperatures just below freezing it feels warm at MCM.