Presumably, he was flying a well-known shortcut between two peaks in southeast Alaska's Wrangell Mountains when, blinded by the brilliant Aurora, he flew into a glacier on 16,237-ft Mount Sanford. At that moment, in a hamlet forty-five miles away a schoolgirl watching the display of northern lights saw a sudden flaring of light that is believed to mark the end of Flight 4422.
Two hours after the crash, a bush pilot who managed to start his plane in the 35-below (F) weather flew near the wreckage but could not find it. The next morning, he and a huge search and rescue operation located the wreckage but realized that if -- miraculously -- anyone had survived the crash, he could not have survived the frigid night.
The scattered remnants slid down the glacier from the 11,000-foot point of impact to about 8,000 feet, where snow and ice quickly covered them. Alaska's winter made it impossible to get to the site on the ground, thwarting efforts and plans by bush pilots, helicopters, and dog sled teams. Airborne clergy dropped funeral wreaths at the location. There was one more sighting that night, and then the snow and the churning glacier buried all evidence of a crash.
The crash was the worst in Alaskan history. After the rumors began, it became one of the most notorious. Some said the flight carried secret documents from World War II, others said diamonds. But in Alaska, where speculation about gold never seems far from the surface, most of the rumors centered on gold. The rumors sparked at least 20 expeditions to find the crash site and ferret out the gold.
Found here
Just type in Mt. SXanford plane crash on a google search.
Sounds more exciting if something like “The Langoliers” occurred while flying through the Aurora Borealis.
Like the French have a word for everything, Americans got a trade for everything.
So much for the short cut saving time.
Gold?
Interesting report on this airplane crash.