Advancing Exploration, Science & Historic Discovery
The George 1 Antarctic Repatriation Project
Working at the request of the surviving families nearly 75 years after the crash, a specialized NSP team is planning an expedition to Antarctica to perform a site survey in order to locate the preserved frozen bodies of (3) US Navy air crewmen from a depth of up to 150 feet under the glacier’s surface. Following the extremely hazardous survey expedition, NSP will work with the U.S. DoD to repatriate the men with proper honors. The men died when their converted reconnaissance patrol bomber, a U.S. Navy Martin Mariner PBM-5 flying boat codenamed George 1, grazed a ridgeline, then exploded and crashed on Antarctica's Thurston Island, 30 December 1946 during ‘Operation Highjump.’ This operation was part of famed Admiral Richard Byrd’s exploration of Antarctica, and his largest. It included 4700 sailors, 13 ships and 23 aircraft. Six men survived the horrific George 1 crash and were rescued after surviving on the ice for 13 days, as chronicled in newsreel and actual expedition film footage from the era.
Learn more on Facebook: George 1 Repatriation Project