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An eight-man team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command has closed its investigation of a possible vintage military aircraft crash site on Colony Glacier, near Knik Glacier. The team reportedly recovered materials including life-support equipment and possible bones for further analysis at JPAC's Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii. (Courtesy Capt. Jamie Dobson/Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command / June 26, 2012) |
A press release from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command says an eight-man team from the command initially touched down on Colony Glacier June 18, after wreckage was seen in the area by an Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk crew on June 10. The area has been under an airspace restriction from the Federal Aviation Administration since the discovery.
While the team intended to provide an initial assessment for a follow-on recovery team, members decided they could handle recovery operations and immediately began to do so.
A photo of the crash site provided by JPAC shows the glacier’s surface marked by numerous crevasses, with personnel apparently conducting work inside the crevasses.
“The size of the site and deteriorating environmental conditions factored into the decision,” officials wrote. “The team recovered material evidence, such as life support equipment from the wreckage, and also possible osseous remains from the glacier.”
The recovered materials will be taken to JPAC's Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii for further analysis.
