Military Aircraft Wreck Missing For 60 Years Discovered In Alaska
Military investigators said Thursday that wreckage found on an Alaskan glacier is from an Air Force cargo plane that crashed almost 60 years ago, killing all 52 people aboard.
Authorities said the evidence correlates with a C-124A Globemaster that went missing on Nov. 22, 1952, during the Korean War, while approaching Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, USA Today reported.
Some of the evidence we've found correlates with that, Army Capt. Jamie Dobson of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command told the Alaska Dispatch. That doesn't eliminate the possibility that there could be other things. We're not taking anything off the table yet.
Although the investigation is continuing, the command let family members know about the discovery.
With so many aircraft missing, we recognize that we could let some people know that some of this evidence looks like the 1952 crash, and that this is what we think we found, and not string them along as the investigation continues, said Dobson.
While the recent discovery may bring a recovery of remains and closure for the families, this is not the first time the crash site was discovered. In the days following the aircraft's disappearance, the wreckage was found, but harsh weather prevented a full recovery and the plane was lost once again, reported Alaska Dispatch.
Now, investigators will make their way back to the site and collect more evidence.
Crash researcher Tonja Anderson's grandfather was killed rin the accident. Anderson said that the plane was on a flight from McChord Air Force Base in Washington state to Elmendorf when it crashed near the 8,000-foot level of Mount Gannett, the Daily Mail reported. She said she tried to convince the military to return to the area, but gave up a few years ago.
Anderson said it took many years before her family was able to hold a funeral for their grandfather, a funeral her grandmother did not live to see.
She died of cancer, Tonja Anderson said. I asked her what had happened to my grandfather, and she said, 'You do whatever you need to do (to find him)'.
The Globemaster II was rolled out by the Air Force in 1950 and was considered one of the world's largest transport planes. The plane was eventually replaced with the C-141 Starlifter jet.
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