[2] The aircraft based from USS Pine Island (AV-12),[2] Bureau Number 59098, callsign "George 1", hit a ridge and burned while supporting Operation Highjump.

[2] Six crewmembers survived the crash, Aviation Radioman James H. Robbins, pilot Ralph "Frenchy" LeBlanc, co-pilot William Kearns, photographer Owen McCarty, Plane Captain J.D.

LeBlanc was so frostbitten from the conditions that both of his legs were amputated to avoid gangrene spreading past his knee joints.

[3] His legs were amputated on the Philippine Sea, a ship that was part of the rescue, and one of his arms was later surgically grafted to his face to repair frostbitten facial tissue in a Rhode Island naval hospital.

[1][2] In 2004, during a surveying flight, a Chilean navy airplane flew over the site using ground penetrating radar to discover the exact location.