Northwest Airlines Flight 4422
Encyclopedia
On March 12, 1948, Northwest Airlines
Flight 4422 (NC95422) crashed into Mount Sanford, Alaska, with a crew of six and 24 passengers. The flight was a C-54 charter flying back to the United States from Shanghai. The aircraft refueled at Anchorage
(Merrill Field
) and took off at 8:12 p.m. to continue on to its destination, New York City
(LaGuardia Airport
). For reasons unknown, the aircraft deviated from the published airway
and crashed into Mount Sanford.(if links above fail to load report, visit http://dotlibrary.specialcollection.net and select "Historical Aircraft Accident Reports (1934-1965)", then retry report links) After the initial impact the wreckage slid down for about 3000 feet before coming to rest. There were no survivors. The passengers were American merchant mariners, crew members of the tanker
SS Sunset, being ferried back home.
Many witnesses in the nearby town of Gulkana saw the crash, but the wreckage was lost for over 50 years. Snowstorms quickly buried its exact location in a mountain glacier
. Over the years, various individuals, lured by rumors of a secret gold cargo shipment from China, searched the mountain and came home empty-handed. Northwest pilot Marc Millican and Delta pilot Kevin McGregor had been searching the mountain together and on their own since 1995.
In 1997 Millican and McGregor located a few pieces of wreckage but were unable to confirm it was from Northwest 4422. Only in 1999, after obtaining permission from the park service and victims' relatives, were they able to remove wreckage confirming it was from Flight 4422. No secret treasure was ever found. At the time of the crash it was determined the pilots were 23 miles off course and may not have seen the mountain at night. An NTSB investigation in 1999 shows the propellers were spinning at high velocity when they struck the mountain, which supports this theory.
In addition to wreckage discovered in 1999, a mummified
left hand and arm was found in the Alaska glacier. After nearly a decade, identifiable fingerprints were recovered from the remains by Edward Robinson. The remains were then positively identified by Michael Grimm on September 6th, 2007 using fingerprints, making this the world's oldest known identification of post-mortem remains using fingerprint identification. The limb was from Francis Joseph Van Zandt, a 36 year old merchant marine from Roanoke, Virginia, one of the passengers on Flight 4422. Subsequently, using DNA
from a descendant of Van Zandt, Dr. Odile Loreille, an expert in DNA analysis, was also able to identify the remains using mitochondrial and Y-DNA identification. Only the remains of Francis Joseph Van Zandt were ever recovered or identified. The bodies of the remaining 29 individuals still await possible recovery.
Northwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines, Inc. was a major United States airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines by a merger approved on October 29, 2008, making Delta the largest airline in the world...
Flight 4422 (NC95422) crashed into Mount Sanford, Alaska, with a crew of six and 24 passengers. The flight was a C-54 charter flying back to the United States from Shanghai. The aircraft refueled at Anchorage
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...
(Merrill Field
Merrill Field
Merrill Field is a public-use general aviation airport located one mile east of downtown Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska. The airport is owned by Municipality of Anchorage....
) and took off at 8:12 p.m. to continue on to its destination, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia Airport is an airport located in the northern part of Queens County on Long Island in the City of New York. The airport is located on the waterfront of Flushing Bay and Bowery Bay, and borders the neighborhoods of Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst. The airport was originally...
). For reasons unknown, the aircraft deviated from the published airway
Airway (aviation)
In aviation, an airway is a designated route in the air. Airways are laid out between navigational aids such as VORs, NDBs and Intersections ....
and crashed into Mount Sanford.(if links above fail to load report, visit http://dotlibrary.specialcollection.net and select "Historical Aircraft Accident Reports (1934-1965)", then retry report links) After the initial impact the wreckage slid down for about 3000 feet before coming to rest. There were no survivors. The passengers were American merchant mariners, crew members of the tanker
Tanker (ship)
A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...
SS Sunset, being ferried back home.
Many witnesses in the nearby town of Gulkana saw the crash, but the wreckage was lost for over 50 years. Snowstorms quickly buried its exact location in a mountain glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
. Over the years, various individuals, lured by rumors of a secret gold cargo shipment from China, searched the mountain and came home empty-handed. Northwest pilot Marc Millican and Delta pilot Kevin McGregor had been searching the mountain together and on their own since 1995.
In 1997 Millican and McGregor located a few pieces of wreckage but were unable to confirm it was from Northwest 4422. Only in 1999, after obtaining permission from the park service and victims' relatives, were they able to remove wreckage confirming it was from Flight 4422. No secret treasure was ever found. At the time of the crash it was determined the pilots were 23 miles off course and may not have seen the mountain at night. An NTSB investigation in 1999 shows the propellers were spinning at high velocity when they struck the mountain, which supports this theory.
In addition to wreckage discovered in 1999, a mummified
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
left hand and arm was found in the Alaska glacier. After nearly a decade, identifiable fingerprints were recovered from the remains by Edward Robinson. The remains were then positively identified by Michael Grimm on September 6th, 2007 using fingerprints, making this the world's oldest known identification of post-mortem remains using fingerprint identification. The limb was from Francis Joseph Van Zandt, a 36 year old merchant marine from Roanoke, Virginia, one of the passengers on Flight 4422. Subsequently, using DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
from a descendant of Van Zandt, Dr. Odile Loreille, an expert in DNA analysis, was also able to identify the remains using mitochondrial and Y-DNA identification. Only the remains of Francis Joseph Van Zandt were ever recovered or identified. The bodies of the remaining 29 individuals still await possible recovery.
See also
- Star Dust (aircraft) - Airliner that crashed onto a mountain glacier in 1947 and remained undiscovered until 1998.