The remains of 17 US service members lost in a 1952 military plane crash in Alaska have been recovered more than six decades later.

Another 35 bodies are still missing and being sought at the remote crash site in the northwestern US state, the Department of Defense says in a statement.

The C-124 Globemaster aircraft crashed on November 22, 1952 while en route from Washington state to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska with 41 passengers and 11 crew on board.

“Adverse weather conditions precluded immediate recovery attempts. In late November and early December 1952, search parties were unable to locate and recover any of the service members,” said the statement.

In June 2012, an Alaska National Guard helicopter spotted debris while training in the area west of Mount Gannett, and subsequent searches confirmed it was from the 1952 crash.

“DoD scientists from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used forensic tools and circumstantial evidence in the identification of 17 service members,” the statement said.

“The remaining personnel have yet to be recovered and the crash site will continue to be monitored for future possible recovery.”