Plane wreckage found 60 years on

The wreckage of a plane that disappeared 60 years ago with 52 passengers on board has been found on an Alaskan glacier.

The Douglas C-124A Globemaster cargo plane disappeared over Anchorage, Alaska in November 1952.

Poor weather prevented a rescue effort and a later search could not locate the wreckage.

A Time Magazine story at the time of the crash said the plane had several close calls.

"The plane missed two or three ridges by only 50 to 100 feet... [it later] hit the mountainside, exploding and disintegrating upon impact,” the Times story said. “Six to eight feet of powdered snow covered everything.”

The plane was discovered earlier this month, but it's taken two weeks to positively identify the wreckage as the same plane that crashed in 1952.

The discovery will bring some closure to the families of the victims 60 years after the plane went down.

Crash researcher Tonja Anderson, whose grandfather was killed in the crash, has spent 12 years searching for the wreckage.

Using old newspaper stories, Ms Anderson used her research to convince the military to search for the plane so the victims’ relatives could have some closure.

A 12 person military team hiked up the glacier earlier this month to uncover the wreckage.

The search team has confirmed that bones, dog tags and mail has been found at the site of the crash, meaning Ms Anderson and the families of the 51 other victims finally have some closure.

Ms Anderson said she was motivated to find the plane by her late grandmother, who always struggled to cope with the loss of her husband.

She told a local TV station she became very emotional upon finding out her grandfather had been found.

"I cried", she said, "All she ever asked for was a flag. They said they would go ahead and give us closure, and give us the flag."