- I've got eyes on the wreckage.
There's the crash site.
All the metal is very sharp here.
We found the wreckage of the C54 headed to Area 51.
(intensely energetic music)
What's going on everybody?
I'm Mark Vins and this is about to be our most ambitious
adventures with me yet.
Tomorrow we're gonna hike to the peak of that mountain
behind us to find what's left of this aircraft
and get this, that airplane, it was headed to Area 51.
All right, here we go.
Mount Charleston peak 8.3 miles ahead of us.
This is going to be one of the most extreme adventures
we've ever done on Brave Wilderness.
This crash site is just 50 feet from the summit.
I hope we find the remains of the flight
that fatefully crashed that November day back in 1955.
While the journey ahead would be an extreme feat
of endurance, my mind was fixated
at what we might find at the crash site,
or if we would even find the wreckage at all.
To get back down before dark,
we wouldn't have much time at the summit,
nor did we bring the gear required
for an overnight expedition.
Our awareness of this time crunch was great fuel
to continue the march toward the top.
However, what would we find when we got there?
This was a plane headed to Area 51, after all.
Were there secret documents left behind,
spy plane devices,
parts from an alien spacecraft?
Literally anything was possible.
But first we had to get there.
Look at that right there.
That is snow pack left
from the winter season.
That's a high elevation we're headed today.
This altitude has snow almost half of the year.
As this is melting away,
we're seeing the last bits of what's left.
Little bit of a false summit here.
Looks like we reached the top of the first leg.
Now we've got to cover some real distance in miles.
Here's a sign.
See what it says.
Griffith Peak Trail takes you to the top right there,
you can see the summit, but we're headed to Charleston Peak
which is that way.
Still a long way to go for us.
It's not even the halfway point.
Okay, we've made it to check point number three.
Up the switchbacks, over the saddle,
now this is the grassy knoll
and we're about to enter the burnt forest.
And once we hit this tree line
I'll tell you why it got that name.
(energetic music)
Oh yeah. Look at that.
Definitely see the burnt forest embodied by this tree.
It's absolutely charred on the inside.
And in 2013, this entire mountain side was leveled
by a 28,000 acre wildfire.
And this is the last checkpoint on our map
before we make our way to the summit and Mount Charleston,
the burnt forest, it is a very ominous checkpoint,
I don't mind saying so.
I mean we're looking for a plane crash
that was actually coming in,
if you just point your camera over there,
that's the valley and beyond that's California.
The flight was leaving from Burbank, California
on its way to Area 51, got stuck in some bad weather.
And because of the secrecy
of this mission the plane was actually flying
underneath the radar
and unfortunately missed clearing the peak
of Mount Charleston by 50 feet.
The velocity that it impacted
with scattered the aircraft all over the mountain side.
So with any luck today, we will find the remnants
of that infamous plane crash.
There it is.
The summit.
The summit of Mount Charleston.
I can actually see in the distance
there's a flag marking the top and there's a trail.
Hang on a second. I see something up there.
I'm gonna get out my binoculars.
Oh yeah.
100%.
The crash site.
I've got eyes on the wreckage.
We did it.
We found the wreckage of the C54 headed to Area 51.
I'd say we're probably half a mile or less away.
Let's go get it.
Whoa, you got, you rolling?
First piece of aircraft.
Yes, that is 100% a piece of an aircraft.
I'm just shocked.
I did not expect to see a piece
of this plane that far away from the
crash site that we saw from our binoculars.
You can see that this is some kind of mechanical piece.
There's a pipe.
I don't know what part this is,
but you can see that there's a serial number there.
There used to be some kind of part number,
but that's worn away.
I mean it is 65 years old,
so you'd expect it to erode quite a bit.
About a half a mile away from the crash site.
It must have hit full speed.
All right, let's keep moving.
There it is.
There's the crash site.
Let's go.
Okay, I got my energy back.
We found the plane.
That's the main wreckage site.
Oh man, there it is.
This must be part of the comms.
The communication system would have wires like this.
You can see them all.
Almost looks like a spool of yarn.
Okay, hopefully this will get us out of the wind.
This altitude is making it really hard.
It's cold.
It's windy and we're exhausted.
Little less windy.
Oh wow, that's a piece of an engine.
That's a piece of an engine for sure.
(indistinct) the main piece of wreckage,
but I can tell you just at a quick glance
there's debris scattered all over this mountain.
You can see more of the fuselage down there.
We might carefully try to go down there in a minute,
but first let's inspect what's right before us.
And honestly, folks, I'm looking for anything recognizable.
Like, I can tell
that a piece like this is from the fuselage.
It looks like the exterior of the plane.
Yeah, there's some more axle looking.
I mean that, that to me, it looks like a landing gear.
Let's go inspect that.
Be careful.
This stuff is really sharp and really trip hazardous.
Yeah.
You can see the hydraulic here
and you can see this at a manual release.
This is a lever.
I'm not an expert.
If there's any aeronautical experts watching this,
tell us what this is.
I believe this is a piece of the landing gear.
So I moved down here.
There's a huge piece of the fuselage.
This is kind of a little bit dangerous.
This mountain side is very crumbly
and all the metal is very sharp here.
So I don't wanna grab onto the wrong piece
and go home with a nasty cut.
I definitely don't recommend anybody go off trail,
but I'm experienced in hiking
and taking the precautions necessary to do this.
This is the biggest piece
of the plane that's out here right now.
At least the biggest piece that we found.
I'm sure there are other pieces spread
throughout this entire range,
but any further down the hill, it gets super unsafe.
In fact, I highly recommend if you ever come to the site,
you don't come down this far, you stay on the trail.
Let's tuck in right here so we can get out of the wind
and I'll talk to you for a second,
tell you a little bit more about what you're seeing.
There's a few reasons why this aircraft is
in the condition that it is.
One is obvious.
There was a crash.
The second reason is about a year
after the crash the Air Force came up here
and detonated this plane with dynamite,
blew it up to smithereens.
And that's because of the secret nature of the mission.
They were headed to Area 51 to work on the project.
None other than the U2 spy plane used in the Cold War.
Very, very famous aircraft,
very critical for US intelligence in the Cold War.
And they couldn't risk any of those parts being confiscated
or getting into enemy hands.
So they came up here and detonated what was left.
And that's the real reason why you see so much
of the rubble around us right now.
Back in 1955, right after the crash, the fuselage,
the rear of the plane, we'll show you a picture,
was largely intact.
Coming from Burbank, the airplane,
as you can see we're almost to the summit,
the summit's right there,
it almost made it.
We're talking 50, at most a hundred feet
to clear the ridge.
And it's very unfortunate
because this is the tallest point in the whole area.
So they nearly made it.
And Area 51 at Groom Lake is just
about an hour and a half north of here, drive wise,
so they were very close by plane.
I'm overwhelmed right now
with a lot of emotions.
14 lives were lost in this crash
and because of the secrecy of the mission,
their families weren't even notified for four decades later.
I can only imagine what they went through.
Not only losing their loved ones,
but not knowing how and not knowing why.
Definitely a lot of admiration
for the work that they were doing.
Protecting the freedoms of the United States,
keeping us safe.
A very unfortunate circumstance that took place here
back in 1955 and a very interesting piece of history.
An absolutely amazing adventure.
I do ask if you ever come up here to see this wreckage
that you leave it be, leave it intact,
this is a historical site,
out of respect for those who were affected by the crash.
Thank you all for joining us
on this incredible expedition piece of history
and probably the most intense Brave Wilderness video
that I've ever been part of.
I'm Mark Vins.
Be brave.
Stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
Let's make our way to the summit and go home.
If you're fascinated by this story and want to learn more
about the silent heroes from this fateful mission,
please consider visiting the coldwarmonument.org website.
I would also like to thank everyone involved
from the Silent Heroes of the Cold War Memorial
that have honored this mission.
And on behalf of the entire team of Brave Wilderness,
thank everyone who has
and is serving in the United States Military.
Your sacrifice for the preservation
of our freedoms is appreciated beyond words.