2025 — Feb 6, Bering Air Cessna Caravan 445 crash (icing?) off SE shore of Nome, AK– 10
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 2-8-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/-
–10 AP. “Crews rush to recover commuter plane found crashed on Alaska sea ice…” 2-8-2025.
–10 AP. “Search underway along Alaska’s western coast for plane carrying 10 people.” 2-7-2025.
–10 CBS News. “All 10 victims recovered from Alaska plane wreckage…identified.” 2-8-2025.
–10 NBC News. “Crashed plane found after aircraft with 10 aboard went missing in Alaska. 2-7-2025.
–10 NYT/John Yoon. “Small Plane With 10 Dead Found Crashed in Alaska.” 2-7-2025.
Narrative Information
- “Search underway along Alaska’s western coast for plane carrying 10 people.” 2-7-2025:
“ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Rescuers searched Friday for any sign of a plane that went missing while carrying 10 people across Alaska’s Norton Sound south of the Arctic Circle. The U.S. Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules crew searched the area between White Mountain and Nome but did not find the missing plane, officials said on X. A Jayhawk helicopter was brought in early Friday. A National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson said the agency is monitoring the situation.
“The Bering Air Caravan, a single-engine turboprop, was heading from Unalakleet to Nome on Thursday afternoon with nine passengers and a pilot, according to Alaska’s Department of Public Safety. Authorities were working to determine its last known coordinates.”
Feb 7, NBC News: “A crashed airplane with three dead people inside has been found in Alaska during the search for a flight that went missing Thursday [Feb 6] with 10 people aboard, the Coast Guard said Friday.[1] The crashed plane was found around 34 miles southeast of Nome, the Coast Guard said in an update on X. [That would be off the SE cast of Nome in Norton Sound.]
“‘3 individuals were found inside and reported to be deceased…’ the Coast Guard said.
“A Bering Air Cessna Caravan with nine passengers and one pilot on board took off from Unalakleet, a community on the eastern coast of Norton Sound, on Thursday and was headed to Nome about 140 miles to the west.” (NBC News. “Crashed plane found after aircraft with 10 aboard went missing in Alaska. 2-7-2025.)
Feb 7, NYT: “The mangled wreckage of a plane with 10 bodies inside was found on Friday near the western coast of Alaska and is believed to be the aircraft that vanished the day before, a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska said.
“The Coast Guard posted an image on social media of a downed plane in snow that was found about 34 miles southeast of Nome. The spokesman, Lt. Cmdr. Mike Salerno, said the bodies of 10 people on board had been recovered.
“The Coast Guard said that the plane matched the description of Bering Air Flight 445, which left Unalakleet, Alaska, at about 2:40 p.m. local time on Thursday before it vanished roughly 10 minutes before it was scheduled to arrive in Nome.
“A radar analysis showed that the Bering flight, a Cessna 208 Caravan, experienced ‘a rapid loss of altitude’ and a ‘corresponding rapid loss in speed,’ Lt. Benjamin McIntyre-Coble of the Coast Guard said at a news conference on Friday.
“A pilot and nine passengers were on board, said David Olson, the airline’s director of operations. Bering Air’s Caravans can carry as many as nine passengers, according to the airline.
“When its position was lost, the aircraft was 12 miles offshore, the Coast Guard said in a statement.
“The plane was later reported overdue, the Alaska State troopers said, meaning that it had not reached the airport 30 minutes past its estimated arrival time. The Federal Aviation Administration said it issued a search-and-rescue alert notice around 3:20 p.m.
“On Friday, the Nome Volunteer Fire Department said that the families of all of the occupants of the plane had been notified.
“The Fire Department said that the weather conditions made visibility in the area poor, warning residents not to form their own search parties.
“Before the plane disappeared, its pilot told air traffic control in Anchorage that he had intended to enter a holding pattern while waiting for the runway in Nome to be cleared, according to the Fire Department.
“Alaska’s Transportation Department said the runway at Nome Airport that the plane had been approaching had remained open throughout Thursday.
“Maintenance crews had de-iced the runway, said Danielle Tessen, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Department, which operates the runway.
“Weather conditions in the region between Unalakleet and Nome included snow, fog and low temperatures, she added.
“More than 80 percent of communities in Alaska are inaccessible by road, according to the Transportation Department. Air connections, especially those provided by regional carriers like Bering Air, are essential for delivering supplies like fuel and food.
“Bering Air is based in Nome, with hubs in Kotzebue and Unalakleet, and operates flights to 32 destinations, according to its website. Nome is home to about 3,500 people, and Unalakleet about 800.” (New York Times/John Yoon. “Small Plane With 10 Dead Found Crashed in Alaska.” 2-7-2025.)
Feb 8, AP: “JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Just hours after finding 10 people dead in western Alaska from one of the deadliest plane crashes in the state in 25 years, authorities raced to recover their remains and the wreckage of the small commuter plane from unstable sea ice before expected high winds and snow. ‘The conditions out there are dynamic, so we’ve got to do it safely in the fastest way we can,’ Jim West, chief of the Nome Volunteer Fire Department, said Friday [7th].
….
“As the community tried to process the deadly event, crews worked swiftly on unstable, slushy sea ice to recover the bodies and the wreckage with less than a day before bad weather was expected. Officials said a Black Hawk helicopter would be used to move the aircraft once the bodies were removed.
“Among those killed in the crash were Rhone Baumgartner and Kameron Hartvigson. They had traveled to Unalakleet to service a heat recovery system vital to the community’s water plant, according to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.” (Associated Press (Becky Bohrer and Hallie Golden). “Crews rush to recover commuter plane found crashed on Alaska sea ice before expected snow and wind.” 2-8-2025.)
Feb 8, CBS News: “….Alaska State Troopers later identified the pilot as 34-year-old Chad Antill of Nome. The passengers were also identified Saturday night as:
- 52-year-old Liane Ryan of Wasilla
- 58-year-old Donnell Erickson of Nome
- 30-year-old Andrew Gonzalez of Wasilla
- 41-year-old Kameron Hartvigson of Anchorage
- 46-year-old Rhone Baumgartner of Anchorage
- 52-year-old Jadee Moncur of Eagle River
- 45-year-old Ian Hofmann of Anchorage
- 34-year-old Talaluk Katchatag of Unalakleet
- 48-year-old Carol Mooers of Unalakleet
“….The crash site is moving approximately 5 miles a day, NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference on Saturday. She added that the area where the Cessna 208 Caravan went down is also expecting some snow, which was expected to hinder recovery operation.
….
“Investigators told CBS News transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave on Saturday that the aircraft is not equipped with voice or data recorders as it is not a requirement. Following victim recovery, authorities will search for other avionic components that store electronic data which may help paint a clearer picture of what led to the crash….” (CBS News. “All 10 victims recovered from Alaska plane wreckage…identified.” 2-8-2025.)
Feb 12, Slackdavis Sanger Aviation.[2] “Fatal Crash of Bering Air Cessna 208B in Alaska:
“The recent tragic crash of a Bering Air Cessna 208B EX (N321BA) near Nome, Alaska, has renewed questions regarding design flaws in the Cessna 208B and the dangers of flying the aircraft in icing conditions. Preliminary flight tracking evidence suggests a loss of control of the aircraft while flying in weather conducive to airframe icing. The rapid descent of the aircraft could be observed on various public flight tracking websites.
“As far back as 2004, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) put “reduce dangers to aircraft flying in icing conditions” on its annual “Most Wanted” list. In 2008, after a series of fatal icing accidents, Cessna replaced the pneumatic de-icing system on new production Cessna 208B aircraft with the fluid-based TKS system to improve de-icing capabilities of the aircraft. However, the 208B had numerous other design flaws discovered in litigation arising from the 2002 fatal accident in Parks, AZ, that made it susceptible to in-flight icing. Mike Slack, who handled 208B icing lawsuits against Cessna, including a case in Alaska, says the recent fatal accident renews long-standing questions regarding the 208B’s certification for flight in known icing conditions.”
Feb 15, MSN: “ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A forensic meteorologist will be part of the 17-member in-person team investigating the role severe weather conditions potentially played in the deadly crash of Bering Air flight 445 one week ago outside of Nome, the head of Alaska’s National Transportation Safety Board regional office confirmed to Alaska’s News Source Investigates.
“‘Primarily what that meteorologist is going to be doing is what kind of weather products were provided to the company, what kind of weather products were provided to the flight crew in this case,’ the NTSB’s Clint Johnson said. ‘So they’re going to be interviewing some of the forecasters, or weather forecasters. We want to make sure that this flight and this pilot had all the pertinent weather information to be able to make that ‘go [or] no-go’ decision.’
“While forensic meteorologists are not typically involved in investigations, Johnson said that resource is always an option. In Flight 445’s case, he said including the in-person meteorologist is more efficient during a time-sensitive investigation than relying on remote analysis.” (MSN. “Bering Air Flight 445: Forensic meteorologist part of investigation, NTSB says.” 2-15-2025.)
Sources
Alaska’s News Source (Joey Klecka). “Breaking: Wreckage of missing plane found; No survivors.” Accessed 2-7-2025 at:
https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2025/02/07/missing-plane-found-3-people-reported-dead/
Associated Press (Becky Bohrer and Hallie Golden). “Crews rush to recover commuter plane found crashed on Alaska sea ice before expected snow and wind.” 2-8-2025. Accessed 2-8-2025 at: https://apnews.com/article/alaska-plane-crash-10-dead-9ebe8b2f0b69c6b6cda7d284fbfc35cd
Associated Press. “Search underway along Alaska’s western coast for plane carrying 10 people.” 2-7-2025. Accessed 2-7-2025 at: https://apnews.com/article/missing-aircraft-alaska-search-10-people-eb496188285ed54c9a527f658d4ff70a
CBS News. “All 10 victims recovered from Alaska plane wreckage have been identified.” 2-8-2025. Accessed 2-10-2025 at: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alaska-plane-recovery-wreckage-ice-floe/
MSN. “Bering Air Flight 445: Forensic meteorologist part of investigation, NTSB says.” 2-15-2025. Accessed 2-15-2025 at: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/bering-air-flight-445-forensic-meteorologists-part-of-investigation-ntsb-says/ar-AA1z15Kh
NBC News (Phil Helsel). “Crashed plane found after aircraft with 10 aboard went missing in Alaska. 2-7-2025. Accessed 2-7-2025 at:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/crashed-plane-alaska-rcna191297
New York Times (John Yoon). “Small Plane With 10 Dead Found Crashed in Alaska.” 2-7-2025. Accessed 2-7-2025 at: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/us/alaska-plane-missing.html
Slackdavis Sanger Aviation. “Fatal Crash of Bering Air Cessna 208B in Alaska.” Alaska Native News, 2-12-2025. Accessed 2-12-2025 at:
Fatal Crash of Bering Air Cessna 208B in Alaska
[1] A photo on Alaska’s News Source shows two would-be rescuers walking around the downed plane on rough ice. “The tail number on the plane in the photo appears to match the number given by authorities when it was first reported missing.”
[2] Mike Slack and Ladd Sanger are aviation attorneys.