Investigators with Joint Task Force-Alaska, the Alaska Army National Guard, and the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command gathered Tuesday to reveal some of the debris they have found on Colony Glacier this summer from an Air Force C-124A Globemaster II transport plane that crashed nearly 60 years ago.
"The things that we keep are the things that are directly related to the individuals on that aircraft, so we would tie it back to, let's say something like a journal or a dog tag or clothing items," said JPAC spokesman Dr. Gregory Berg. "This year we're finding many of those same types of items again."
Fifty-two people were on board the plane when it crashed into Mount Gannett on Nov. 22, 1952. Severe weather prevented rescuers from reaching the wreckage before it was buried in snow and ice.
Berg says the glacier has receded 275 meters since last summer, when debris from the wreckage was initially discovered by an Alaska Air National Guard helicopter.
Tonja Anderson-Dell of Tampa, Fla., whose grandfather -- Airman Isaac Anderson -- was among the crash's casualties, says she and other crash victims' families have been eagerly awaiting word of JPAC's discoveries on Colony Glacier this year.
"I'm excited, it's been a long wait," Anderson-Dell said. "I deal with a lot of families who call me on a regular basis, we have a bond, and we all try and talk with each other trying to get each other through these days until we do hear something."
With the job of accounting for all of the Globemaster crash victims far from complete, each new find could be a touchstone to the past for their descendants. Anderson-Dell visited JBER last fall and reviewed debris from the wreckage, which included navigational charts, a pack of cigarettes, and a cooking stove with fuel still inside.
"A lot of us are sitting back waiting, trying to find out exactly what they've found on this go-around, just so we can get some closure," Anderson-Dell said.
While the families of the service members who died are hoping for word of their loved ones, JBER historian Douglas Beckstead is also looking at the recovered wreckage with an eye to preserving the past.
"What I'm looking for is potential items that could be used in a memorial," Beckstead said. "What I'm looking for is items that represent people -- not so much the aircraft itself, but the fact there were 52 people on board this airplane."
Investigators also found some clothing and pilot's wings in their most recent search this week. Berg estimates that 1,800 pounds of debris have been collected from the site over the past few days.
Contact Adam Pinsker