Decades-Old Remains Of 17 Service Members Recovered From Alaskan Glacier

The remains of 17 service members aboard an Air Force plane that crashed in Alaska in 1952 have been identified, government officials said Wednesday.

The bodies of the service members remained hidden underneath the snow for decades after the Globemaster crashed on the side of the Colony Glacier on Nov. 22, 1952, Fox News reported.

It wasn't until 2012 when a Blackhawk helicopter from the Alaska National Guard saw wreckage from the aircraft jutting out from the glacier located nearly 50 miles from Anchorage. Military officials recovered the remains of 17 service members, along with a box of Camel cigarettes, a hockey puck and close to 1,800 pounds of wreckage, according to Fox News.

The identities of the service members were confirmed by scientists from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory. The victims, who were from the Navy, Army, Marine Corps and the Air Force, are to be returned to their families and buried with full military honors, the Toronto Sun reported.

The Globemaster took off from McChord Air Force Base in Washington with 52 crew and passengers when it crashed into Mount Gannett, slid down the side and exploded. It was headed to the Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska.

The Air Force transport plane "obviously was flying at full speed" when it slammed into the mountainside, Terris Morris, a civil air patrol member who visited the crash site, told Fox News.

Tonja Anderson, the granddaughter of one Globemaster passenger, previously told the AP it took search crews several attempts to make it to the side of the glacier due to severe weather, according to Fox News.

The plane's tail and flippers were the only intact parts recovered from the wreckage, which was spread out over three acres. An identification number on the tail confirmed it was from the Globemaster.

Officials hope that future search efforts at the crash site will locate the bodies of the remaining 35 service members, the Toronto Sun reported.