Flight 4422 : The Crash Traditional Geocache
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Five part series put out for COAP 2011-12. Be care of the old wire fence. You are looking for the Flight manifest in an orange lock n lock.
On 12 March 1948 a DC-4 carrying 30 souls crashed into Mt Sanford AK USA killing all onboard. This is a tribute to those men who lost their lives that tragic night. You are looking for an ammo box loaded w/the usual goodies.
From Shanghai, Flight 4422 flew to Tokyo to refuel and the next stop was the USAF base in Shemya Island AK, finally landing in Anchorage AK for refueling and a crew change. It was here my father Robert James Haslett, the Purser, took over responsibility for the crew of SS Sunset. The new crew consisted of Captain JG Van Cleef, Captain RG Petry, First Officer JJ Stickel, Navigator WW Worsley, and Flight Mechanic DL Rector. Rector was observed loading a big box onboard the DC 4, which many believed to be filled w/gold bars!!
Captain Petry was occupying the pilot’s seat at time of departure from Merrill Air Field at 2012 hours 12 March 1948. The plane headed to Edmonton AB and reported over the Wasilla Intersection (Home of Sarah Palin) at 2028 hours, a distance of 35 miles. Three minutes later it reported that it had reached its cruising altitude of 11,000 feet ASL. At 2042 hours Flight 4422 reported over Sheep Mountain, a non-directional radio beacon located 85 miles from Anchorage as the crow flies. At 2103 hrs 4422 reported it was over the Gulkana radio range station. This was the last radio contact with Flight 4422. At 2114 hrs, a fireball was seen on Mt Sanford elev 16,208 feet.
The aircraft could be seen & heard on that cold Friday night as it passed over Glennallen AK, a small town housing the construction workers of the Alaska Pipeline. It was movie night at the canteen, but the kids were not allowed to watch, so they played outside. One of these children was thirteen at the time and happened to be looking at Mt Sanford at the moment of impact & saw the fireball from the crash of Flight 4422. The explosion of a fully fueled aircraft flying 230 mph into granite created a huge fireball that could clearly be seen 70 kms away! I met this lady during my trip to Alaska in August 2011, and she confirmed it was a beautiful night with unlimited visibility.
The Civil Aeronautics Board’s Accident Investigation Report (AIR) finds that the plane was flying off the posted route and that the accident was a result of pilot error. Although it was a clear night, the AIR states that the pilot was probably blinded by a brilliant Aurora Borealis and clouds obscuring the peak of Mt Sanford. We will never know.
And so the legend of the Plane of Gold began.
Congrats to Madpuck & Tagalong for FTF!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
sbhe sbbg va na rireterra