Defense Department forensic scientists retrieved bone fragments, personal effects, and survival equipment from a military aircraft crash site discovered earlier this month by a National Guard helicopter crew on Colony Glacier in Alaska, announced Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command officials. JPAC investigators think the wreckage is that of an Air Force C-124A transport that crashed en route from McChord AFB, Wash., to Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, on Nov. 22, 1952, reported the Associated Press on June 28 (via the New York Daily News). All 52 personnel aboard the aircraft—41 passengers and 11 crew—perished in that accident, according to AP. The eight-person JPAC team, which arrived on the glacier on June 18, intended to scout the area for a follow-on recovery effort. However, due to deteriorating weather and glacier conditions, the team ended up recovering as much evidence as possible, states a June 26 JPAC release. The collected material is going to a JPAC personnel identification lab, states the release.
Unmanned aerial vehicles are fair game for U.S. Special Operations Command’s armed overwatch platform competition, Air Force Special Operations Command boss Lt. James C. “Jim” Slife told reporters on Feb. 26. However, the MQ-9 Reaper drone might not be up to the challenge in its current form, he suggested during…