JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Anchorage - A specialized team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command completed an investigation and recovery operation today of an aircraft wreckage site discovered by Alaskan National Guard members on Colony Glacier June 10.
The eight-man team touched down on the glacier Thursday, June 18, initially intending to examine the site to provide an assessment for the follow on recovery team. Once there the team determined they could manage the recovery and began immediately. The size of the site and deteriorating environmental conditions factored into the decision.
The team recovered material evidence, such as life support equipment from the wreckage, and also possible osseous remains from the glacier. The evidence will be transported to JPAC’s Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii for further analysis.
The Alaska Air National Guard’s 212th Rescue Squadron from here and the Northern Warfare Training Center from Fort Wainwright provided additional personnel to augment recovery operation.
Falling directly under the U.S. Pacific Command and employing nearly 500 joint military and civilian personnel, JPAC continues its search for the more than 83,000 Americans still missing from past conflicts. The ultimate goal of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, and of the agencies involved in returning America’s heroes home, is to conduct global search, recovery, and laboratory operations in order to support the Department of Defense’s personnel accounting efforts.
http://www.jpac.pacom.mil/index.php?page=press_center&size=100&ind=0&fldr=PressReleases2012&file=PR2012-12-16