The Air Force has announced the name of a service member recovered from a C-124 Globemaster aircraft that was lost more than half a century ago.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Eugene R. Costley has been recovered and will be returned to his family in Elmira, New York, for burial with full military honors, according to an Air Force press release.

Costley was one member of an ill-fated flight en route to Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, from McChord Air Force Base, Washington, on Nov. 22, 1952.

There were 11 crewmen and 41 passengers on board when the C-124 went down. The adverse weather conditions around the crash site prevented any immediate recovery attempts.

COLONY GLACIER, Alaska (June 24, 2013) – Members of a specialized investigative team with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command wait as a UH-60 Black Hawk from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson drop off more members of their team to assess a historic aircraft wreck site. The Command conducts global search, recovery and laboratory operations to identify unaccounted-for Americans from past conflicts in order to support the Department of Defense's personnel accounting efforts. (DoD Photo by Navy Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Clifford Bailey, U.S. Navy/Released)

In late November and early December 1952, search parties went out to the crash site, but were unable to locate and recover any of the service members.

Finally, on June 9, 2012, an Alaska National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crew spotted aircraft wreckage and debris while conducting a training mission over the Colony Glacier, immediately west of Mount Gannett, a 9,600-foot Alaskan mountain peak.

Three days after the initial spotting, a National Guard team landed at the site to photograph the area and conduct an initial assessment.

The team found artifacts at the site that seemed to match the wreckage of the C-124 Globemaster, and later that month, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and Joint Task Force team conducted a recovery operation at the site.

COLONY GLACIER, Alaska (June 26, 2013) – Dr. Greg Berg and Kelley Esh, anthropologists leading a specialized recovery team with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, verify a location point as they assess a historic aircraft wreck site. The command conducts global search, recovery and laboratory operations to identify unaccounted-for Americans from past conflicts in order to support the Department of Defense's personnel accounting efforts. (DoD Photo by Navy Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Clifford Bailey, U.S. Navy/Released)

That task force gathered what they could, and also recommended the site continue to be monitored for future recovery operations.

“In 2013, additional artifacts were visible and every summer since then, during a small window of opportunity, Alaskan Command, [Alaska National Guard] personnel and Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations have been supporting the joint effort of Operation Colony Glacier,” the Air Force press release reads.

Medical examiners from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System positively identified Costley’s remains, which were recovered in June 2018, according to the release. The crash site continues to be monitored today for future recovery attempts.

Kyle Rempfer was an editor and reporter who has covered combat operations, criminal cases, foreign military assistance and training accidents. Before entering journalism, Kyle served in U.S. Air Force Special Tactics and deployed in 2014 to Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and Baghdad, Iraq.

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