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词条 1952 Mount Gannett C-124 crash
释义

  1. Accident

  2. Discovery of remains

  3. See also

  4. Further reading

  5. Notes

{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
|name = 1952 Mount Gannett C-124 crash
|occurrence_type = Accident
|date = November 22, 1952
|summary = Controlled flight into mountainous terrain during approach in bad weather
|site = Colony Glacier, Mount Gannett, Alaska, United States
|passengers = 41
|crew = 11
|fatalities = 52
|survivors = 0
|aircraft_type = Douglas C-124A-DL Globemaster II
|image = Douglas C-124A-DL Globemaster II 50-1256.jpg
|caption = A Douglas C-124 Globemaster II similar to the accident aircraft
|operator = United States Air Force
|tail_number = 51-0107
|origin = McChord Air Force Base, Washington
|destination = Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska
}}

The 1952 Mount Gannett C-124 crash was an accident in which a Douglas C-124 Globemaster II military transport aircraft of the United States Air Force crashed into Mount Gannett, a peak in the Chugach Mountains in the American state of Alaska, on November 22, 1952. All of the 52 people on board were killed.

Accident

The C-124 departed McChord Air Base in Washington state en route to Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, Alaska, with a crew of 11 and 41 Army and Air Force passengers. The flight was recorded as passing Middleton Island in the Gulf of Alaska. Around 4pm, a distress call was received by the pilot of a Northwest Orient Airlines passenger aircraft. The reception was very poor, but the Northwest captain made out the sentence: "As long as we have to land, we might as well land here."[1] Weather near Elmendorf at the time was very bad with heavy clouds. The C-124 was flying without visual references, using just altitude, a radio beacon and a stopwatch. There was no further communication from the C-124 and it failed to arrive at Elmendorf as scheduled.[1]

The severe weather continued for three days, so searching was only able to begin on November 25. Thirty-two military aircraft searched the surrounding mountains and four Coast Guard vessels searched Prince William Sound. The wreckage of the aircraft was found on November 28, 1952, on the south side of Mount Gannett by Terris Moore from the Fairbanks Civil Air Patrol and Lieutenant Thomas Sullivan from the 10th Air Rescue Squadron.[3] The pair spotted the tail section of the C-124 sticking out of the snow at an elevation of about {{convert|8,100|ft|-2}}, close to the summit of Mount Gannett.[1] Sullivan and Moore recorded the location as being on the Surprise Glacier, which flows south and empties into Harriman Fjord. However, the 2012 rediscovery of the remains of the aircraft at the foot of Colony Glacier, where it enters Lake George, suggests that the actual crash location was a little further north on the Mount Gannett ice field, sufficient for the debris to be carried {{convert|12|miles|km}} down the north-flowing Colony Glacier over the subsequent 60 years.

Moore, who was a mountaineer and pilot as well as president of the University of Alaska, told journalists the C-124 "obviously was flying at full speed" and appeared to have slid down the cliffs of Mount Gannett and exploded. Wreckage was spread across several acres of the glacier. Moore surmised that the pilot had narrowly missed other Chugach Range peaks during his approach. "From this I conclude he was on instrument, flying blind, and probably crashed without any warning whatsoever to him directly into the southerly face of Mt. Gannett."[5]

Moore reported finding blood on a blanket and noted the "sickly-sweet smell of death" at the site.[3] It seemed clear that there were no survivors. Sullivan noted that recovery of remains would be very difficult as the glacier was already covered by fresh snow eight feet deep. Near the remains of the aircraft, drifted snow was piled up to hundreds of feet. Apparently, the crash had also triggered avalanches that had further buried the remains.[2] Because of the difficult conditions, the recovery effort was terminated after a week and the victims' families were told they would have no remains to bury.[3] The debris was then covered by snow and ice, and was lost for the next 60 years.

At the time, this was only the second fatal accident for the C-124, and was by far the worst. However, the following year saw even more deadly crashes at Moses Lake, Washington, and Tachikawa, Japan, Overall, this was the fourth-worst accident involving a Douglas C-124.

Discovery of remains

On June 9, 2012, the crew of an Alaska Army National Guard helicopter on a training mission noticed a large yellow survival raft on the surface of the Colony Glacier above Inner Lake George.[3][2][4] The site was nearly 14 miles from the 1952 crash location.[3] The National Guard sent a team on foot to examine the site and they retrieved items that were identified as being from the crashed C-124. On June 13, 2012, Deputy Chief Rick Stone, J-2 Intelligence Directorate at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, was assigned to investigate the wreckage.[3]

On June 28, 2012, the US military announced the discovery of the wreckage.[5][6][7]

The recovery operation was then taken over by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, whose primary role is to search for US military personnel missing overseas.[3] On June 18, 2014, after two seasons of operations on the glacier, the Department of Defense announced that the remains of 17 of the victims had been identified and would be returned to their families for burial.[7]

See also

  • 1952 Moses Lake C-124 crash, another C-124 crash less than a month later that killed 87 people and was at that time the deadliest-ever aviation accident.
  • Tachikawa air disaster, a June 1953 air accident also involving a C-124.

Further reading

  • {{cite book|title=The Longest Flight Home |first=Steve |last=Scott | isbn=148177266X |publisher=Author House| date=2013}}
  • Tonja Anderson-Dell (2017). Gifts From a Glacier. Richter Publishing. {{ISBN|1945812133}}

Notes

1. ^{{cite news|url=https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/article/aircraft-debris-found-glacier-12-miles-1952-crash-site/2012/06/27/|title=Aircraft debris found on glacier 12 miles from 1952 crash site |first1=Casey |last1=Grove |first2=Mike |last2=Dunham |date= June 27, 2012 |accessdate=June 19, 2014|work=Anchorage Daily News}}
2. ^{{cite news|url=https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/article/search-persists-remnants-1952-glacier-plane-crash/2013/07/07/|title=Search persists for remnants of 1952 glacier plane crash |first1=Lisa |last1=Demer |date= July 6, 2013 |accessdate=June 19, 2014|work=Anchorage Daily News}}
3. ^{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crash-site-of-american-military-plane-found-in-melting-glacier-more-than-60-years-on-9549356.html |title=Crash site of American military plane found in melting glacier more than 60 years on |first=David |last=Usborne |date=June 19, 2014 |accessdate=June 19, 2014|periodical=The Independent}}
4. ^{{cite news| work=American Forces Press Service |url=http://www.pacom.mil/Media/News/News-Article-View/Article/564263/dod-recovers-remains-of-17-from-1952-aircraft-crash-in-alaska/|title=DOD Recovers Remains of 17 From 1952 Aircraft Crash in Alaska |date=June 18, 2014 |accessdate=June 19, 2014}}
5. ^{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/28/nation/la-na-nn-plane-glacier-alaska-06282012 |last=Nelson |first=Laura J. |title=After 60 years, Alaska glacier gives up wreckage from 1952 crash| work=Los Angeles Times |date=June 28, 2012| accessdate=June 19, 2014}}
6. ^{{cite news |url=http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/military-identifies-17-killed-in-1952-alaska-crash/26559466 |publisher=KTUU |title=Military Identifies 17 Killed in 1952 Alaska Crash |accessdate=June 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140722180747/http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/military-identifies-17-killed-in-1952-alaska-crash/26559466 |archive-date=2014-07-22 |dead-url=yes |df= }}
7. ^{{cite news| url=https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/article/military-ids-remains-17-service-members-killed-1952-plane-crash-near-colony-glacier/2014/06/19/|work=Anchorage Daily News |title=Military IDs remains of 17 service members killed in 1952 plane crash near Colony Glacier |date=July 18, 2014 |accessdate=June 19, 2014}}
{{Clear}}{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1952}}{{coord missing|Alaska}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Mount Gannett C-124 crash}}

5 : Aviation accidents and incidents in 1952|1952 in Alaska|Accidents and incidents involving United States Air Force aircraft|Aviation accidents and incidents in Alaska|November 1952 events

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