The abandoned bus in which the American adventurer, Christopher McCandless passed away around 30 years ago, has been airlifted. He was immortalised by the film and book ‘Into The Wild’ and took his last breath in this 1940s-era Fairbanks city bus.
The bus had been in the Alaskan wilderness for a long time, however, on Thursday a helicopter airlifted it because it had become a rather dangerous tourist attraction.
The operation was carried out as a joint effort between Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources and the Alaska Army National Guard.
After studying the issue closely, prioritizing public safety and considering a variety of alternatives, we decided it was best to remove the bus from its location on the Stampede Trail. We understand the hold this bus has had on the popular imagination. But this is an abandoned and deteriorating vehicle that was requiring dangerous and costly rescue efforts. More importantly, it was costing some visitors their lives.
-Corri Feige, Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner
He added that the dilapidated bus will not be discarded and instead stored in a safe location. Soon, the Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources will take into consideration several options for its permanent position. Chris McCandless is believed to have died of starvation in the bus, around mid-August in 1992, 113 days after he began his journey into the wild.
