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aeromed202
June 15th, 2012, 09:23
Old aircraft wreckage found on Alaska glacier
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Military officials said on Thursday they had found what is believed to be old aircraft wreckage, along with some possible bone tissue, scattered on a glacier near Anchorage. The wreckage was spotted on Sunday when Alaska Army National Guardsmen were conducting a helicopter training flight in the Knik Glacier region northeast of Anchorage, officials from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson said. "It looks like it is a military aircraft," said Air Force Master Sergeant Mikal Canfield, a spokesman for the Anchorage base. No other details about the wreckage were available, he said. The base called the wreck possibly "historic" and said the Federal Aviation Administration had issued a temporary flight restriction for the area, but did not elaborate. Nothing has been taken from the site, pending further investigation, Canfield said. At the request of Alaska military officials, the Hawaii-based U.S. Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) is trying to plan a recovery mission at the Knik Glacier site, a spokeswoman said. JPAC, which focuses on search and recovery missions for missing U.S. service members, hopes to schedule an Alaska trip and line up necessary expertise to work on the glacier, said Captain Jamie Dobson, a spokeswoman for the command. "We believe that there's a reason for JPAC to be involved," she said.
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It will be interesting to see what develops.

pfflyers
June 15th, 2012, 11:11
I'm curious to see how they define "historic," does that just mean old or does it mean historically significant?

warchild
June 15th, 2012, 11:55
Since when does the FAA issue restricted fly areas for a wreck?? I'm not much for wild speculation, but this really makes me wonder whats actually going on..

Brian_Gladden
June 15th, 2012, 13:03
If you pull up the online TFR's you will find them for wrecks all the time.

mikezola
June 15th, 2012, 13:04
Since when does the FAA issue restricted fly areas for a wreck?? I'm not much for wild speculation, but this really makes me wonder whats actually going on..I agree- it makes me wonder myself... just recently I was watching that documentary about the B-36 that crashed somewhere up there that was carrying the training nuke or whatever it was... it does make you think, indeed...-Mike

Dain Arns
June 15th, 2012, 13:56
Maybe they finally found Amelia Earhart? Too soon? :icon_lol:

TeaSea
June 15th, 2012, 15:19
Nope, sorry....TFR is SOP around a crash site. I don't know the rationale but it's a standing procedure, be it a B-36 or a Cessna 150.

aeromed202
June 15th, 2012, 15:33
Being rather ignorant about such things, wouldn't it be prudent to quickly regulate access to any such site? Scavengers? Treasure hunters? Nosy people? Like the people that drive close to a crash to "see" and end up crashing too?

Dain Arns
June 15th, 2012, 16:05
Since the comment was made by the Air Force that it looks like a military plane, there is probably a concern about ordnance?
My guess its WWII era.

fsxar177
June 15th, 2012, 19:07
...probably a P-39...

TeaSea
June 16th, 2012, 05:05
Being rather ignorant about such things, wouldn't it be prudent to quickly regulate access to any such site? Scavengers? Treasure hunters? Nosy people? Like the people that drive close to a crash to "see" and end up crashing too?

During the period of investigation, yes. However it's one thing to impose a restriction, another to enforce it. Unless you're prepared to keep folks on site as security, you are wasting your time. You might make a legal restriction, understanding that provides some prosecution powers should you find evidence of someone looting a "restricted" site.

A TFR, while generally physically unenforceable, is certainly legally so as anyone with a license is obliged to honor it. It's also somewhat difficult to hide who you are should you violate it, and will be impossible with Mode S transponders.

My guess would be P-39 also....when I lived in Alaska in the 70's, a P-39 was discovered less than 100 yards from a heavily used portion of the ALCAN highway (if there is such a thing). Pilot still in the seat. Seemed pretty clear he was trying to make the road (which was unpaved even in the 70's). That was the speculation at the time in any case.

mfitch
June 17th, 2012, 21:04
That location (writ broad) is a common location for recreational flights. However, actually landing in that particular location is to be left to careful helicopter pilots.

This time the TFR is quite small. It is still possible for the usual flight seeing to cross over Lake George and on over the mountains to Turnagain Arm.

The curious part for me was the statement that there were roughly 20 known crashes in roughly that area over time for which they have not yet accounted.

PeteHam
June 28th, 2012, 18:10
Here's the latest on this crash site ......

The airplane wreckage recently found on an Alaskan glacier has been identified as likely that of a U.S. Air Force C124-A Globemaster that went down nearly six decades ago, killing all 41 passengers and 11 crew members aboard the aircraft.
http://www.flyingmag.com/technique/accidents/airplane-wreckage-alaskan-glacier-1952-globemaster-crash?cmpid=enews062812&spPodID=030&spMailingID=5401675&spUserID=NDc4NjIzOTY4NwS2&spJobID=201656201&spReportId=MjAxNjU2MjAxS0

Dain Arns
June 29th, 2012, 12:28
Wow!
I was expecting something a whole lot smaller, explaining why it wasn't found until now.
But a Globemaster kinda blew my mind.

I mean I guess I can understand why the initial recovery was called off in 1952, glaciers are dangerous and heavy snow fall at the time of the incident.
Kinda seems like these folks were forgotten, but it was different times then... :kilroy: