An Australian jet has left Christchurch for Antarctica on a tricky mission to rescue a sick American scientist from an ice-bound research station.

A team from the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) had been waiting for clear weather to fly 3,800 kilometres to the US base at McMurdo Station, on the southern tip of Ross Island.

McMurdo is experiencing temperatures of minus 25 degrees Celsius, but as the supply station for the US Antarctic program, it has a runway that is open all year round.

The five-member Australian team are flying in an AAD Airbus A319 jet.

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) said it called in Australian help yesterday because no US planes were available.

The Royal New Zealand Air Force will provide search-and-rescue coverage for the flight.

The scientist has not been identified but authorities say the situation is a medical emergency.

NSF spokeswoman Debbie Wing said that he or she "is currently stable but may require immediate corrective surgery best delivered at a more capable facility than available at McMurdo."

Peter West from the US Polar Program says rescuers are waiting for the all-clear to fly from Christchurch.

"The weather is difficult to predict in Antarctica, even in the height of summer," he said.

"So I'd imagine those who are planning the flights will be keeping an eye on the specific weather conditions."

Medical evacuations from Antarctica are relatively infrequent, with the last such rescue taking place in October 2011, when a US scientist was airlifted from McMurdo after suffering a stroke at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.

Approximately 30 nations operate permanent research stations in Antarctica including the US, China, Russia, Australia, Britain, France and Argentina.

ABC/AFP