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WWII era crash body found

Hikers made a frozen discovery in connection with a World War II plane crash in California this week, from a plane crash which occurred in 1942, the majority of the crew from it not being found until 1947. The frozen body of an airman was found 13,000 feet above the national park floor by the hikers while they were scaling Mount Mendel Glacier in the Sequoia National Park. The military is working to find out who this airman is and whether he was ever reported missing.

National Park Service representatives believe the serviceman was likely part of a crew aboard an AT-7 navigational training plane that crashed on November 18, 1942. "When we got this report, we got the report of a person wearing a parachute with a patch that said U.S. Army Corp. There was no Air Force in 1942 ... that didn`t come until 1947, or after World War II," said Alexandra Picavet, of the National Park Service.

In 1947, five years after the crash, hikers discovered a portion of the plane, along with four bodies. Recovery crews didn`t know there was at least one airmen left behind. The Park Service is working with a number of agencies and is hoping to chisel the ice around the body on Wednesday to get the man out and eventually identified. It is believed most of the plane is still preserved under the glacier above the spot the latest airman was found.