Burton McGuire, a 30-year-old male pilot, was last seen in the Juneau, Alaska region on January 12, 1952, when the General Airways cargo aircraft he was commanding disappeared during a flight through southeastern Alaska. Online aviation records identify him as Captain Burton L. McGuire, Chief Pilot of General Airways, Inc., aboard Flight 785, a Douglas C-47A/DC-3 cargo plane operating from Portland, Oregon, to Anchorage, Alaska, with an intermediate stop at Annette Island.
The aircraft carried no passengers; McGuire and First Officer George A. Simpson were the only people on board. The cargo was produce, described mainly as crated eggs, and the flight initially progressed without reported trouble before landing at Annette, Alaska, during the morning hours. After refueling and waiting for weather conditions to improve, the crew continued north under Instrument Flight Rules toward Anchorage.
The conditions confronting the flight were difficult and unforgiving. Weather briefings described overcast skies, cold temperatures at flight level, strong winds, and expected turbulence over the high, rough terrain of coastal Alaska. The aircraft had been placed in a hangar while at Annette to prevent ice buildup from freezing drizzle, and the flight was delayed while the crew waited for improved conditions. Once airborne again, Flight 785 was routed from Annette toward Sitka and then onward toward Anchorage along Amber Airway No. 1, maintaining 9,000 feet. McGuire’s aircraft made several radio reports after departure, including messages estimating arrival over Sitka and later reporting its position near Cape Spencer intersection. The final known radio contact came when the crew reported being at 9,000 feet and estimated its next position over Yakutat. After that transmission, the aircraft did not arrive as expected, and concern quickly turned into a missing aircraft emergency.
Search efforts were initiated after Yakutat radio issued an emergency warning that the aircraft was overdue and presumed missing. The wreckage was located the next day by a U.S. Air Force 10th Air Rescue aircraft on a mountainside in the Mount Crillon area, in the Fairweather Range near Juneau. Aviation accident records state that the aircraft had struck the southeast slope of Mount Crillon at approximately the 9,000-foot elevation, about 30 miles northeast of the intended course, and that both pilots were killed. The crash site was in exceptionally hostile terrain: high altitude, perpetual snow, glacier crevasses, avalanche danger, and no practical landing area for aircraft or ground parties. Observers reported that the cockpit was crushed, sections of the wing and engine were torn away, cargo and wreckage were scattered, and the severity of impact made survival impossible. Later attempts to observe or relocate the wreckage were complicated because snow or avalanche activity appeared to have covered the site.
The official aviation investigation determined that no mechanical malfunction had been reported by the crew, radio range stations in the area were operating normally, and radio communications had continued for more than two hours after departure from Annette. Investigators focused on the aircraft’s deviation from its planned route and the effects of strong winds in the crash area. The Civil Aeronautics Board concluded that the probable cause was deviation from the planned route due to improper navigation, noting that the aircraft struck Mount Crillon at 9,000 feet while about 30 miles northeast of where it was supposed to be. Official reports indicate Burton McGuire was found deceased, closing the case as a fatal aviation loss rather than an active missing person matter. In overview, McGuire’s case began as a missing aircraft report in severe Alaska weather and ended with the discovery of a crash site on Mount Crillon, where a routine cargo flight became a fatal accident in remote mountainous terrain, leaving behind the lasting record of a pilot and co-pilot lost while working their route through one of the most difficult flying regions in the country.Last Seen: Jan 12, 1952
