We can now report that there were no survivors from the Friday crash of the Bering Air plane that went down 34 miles from Nome, Alaska. The Coast Guard reported the recovery of three bodies from the wreckage and stated that the remaining passengers and crew are still in the plane but recovery efforts so far have been hampered by the condition of the wreck.
Searchers on Friday found the missing Bering Air plane on the sea ice near Nome, but they did not find any survivors.
The plane had disappeared on a regularly scheduled flight Thursday afternoon, on its way from Unalakleet to Nome with a pilot and nine passengers on board.
The U.S. Coast Guard found the plane, a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, 34 miles southeast of Nome after a massive search that involved numerous agencies and many volunteers. Rescuers located three people dead inside of the plane, the Coast Guard said. It has suspended its search for the others because of the condition of the aircraft, Petty Officer 1st Class Travis McGee said.
“The remaining 7 people are believed to be inside the aircraft but are currently inaccessible due to the condition of the plane,” the agency said in a social media post. “Our heartfelt condolences are with those affected by this tragic incident.”
The cause of the crash remains unclear.
Flight records indicate the plane left Unalakleet around 2:40 p.m. Thursday. It was flying at around 3,400 feet when it stopped transmitting its location at 3:18 p.m. It was scheduled to arrive in Nome about 10 minutes later.
During a Friday news conference, Coast Guard Lt. Benjamin McIntyre-Coble said radar data shows the plane drop.
“Part of that radar analysis showed that at around 3:18 p.m. yesterday afternoon, this aircraft experienced some kind of event which caused them to experience a rapid loss in elevation and a rapid loss in speed,” McIntyre-Coble said.
Conditions in the area had been difficult, which isn’t unusual for this part of Alaska at this time of year. Norton Sound and the Bering Strait experienced some severe winter weather; on Friday, when the Bering Air flight had been scheduled to arrive at Nome, there was snow falling with visibility at one mile. An Alaska Air National Guard helicopter and a Bering Air helicopter both were forced to turn back from conducting their aerial search for the plane due to weather. Searchers did come in on the ground using snow machines.
Previously on RedState: Rescue Effort Underway for Missing Bering Air Plane Bound for Nome
UPDATE: Missing Alaska Aircraft Found, 3 Passengers Dead; USCG Waits for Info on Others Aboard
In a statement released on Friday evening, the identities of two of the plane’s passengers were revealed:
….But in a news release late Friday, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium said two of the passengers were their employees. Rhone Baumgartner and Kameron Hartvigson both worked in utility operations for the organization and had traveled to Unalakleet to service part of the community’s water plant, according to the press release.
In the statement, ANTHC Interim President and CEO Natasha Singh said the employees were “passionate about the work they did, cared deeply for the communities they served, and made a lasting impact on rural communities across our state.”
She said her thoughts were with their families and “everyone else who lost a loved one today.”
It isn’t known if they are among the three people that have been found so far.
The Cessna Caravan is a small local airliner, with a single turboprop engine. It’s unclear at this point if it suffered an engine failure.
Alaska is a place built on civil aviation and small regional carriers like Bering Air. Much of the state is accessible only by air, and almost every remote community has an airstrip. Tragedies like this occur, but for the most part even in the light, rough-field capable aircraft in use, the record of Alaska air travel is pretty good. In their 45 years of operation, this is only the second fatal accident Bering Air has suffered, even operating as they do along the unpredictable northwest coast of Alaska.
