[2] The pair spotted the tail section of the C-124 sticking out of the snow at an elevation of about 8,100 feet (2,500 m), close to the summit of Mount Gannett.

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.

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.

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.

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.

[2][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.

[4] 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.