Investigators hunt for clues into deadly Alaska plane wreck, all victims recovered
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Authorities inspect the wreckage of the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan aircraft operated by Bering Air on Feb 7, that crashed a day earlier, killing 10 people on board.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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ALASKA - Even as the wreckage of a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan that crashed on Feb 6, killing all 10 on board
Time was of the essence as the ice floe, about 54km out to sea near Nome, Alaska, was made of slushy ice and the weather was predicted to turn foul on Feb 9, whipping up snow and 72.4kmh winds, officials said.
“All ten individuals aboard the Bering Air plane have been officially brought home,” the Nome Volunteer Fire Department said in a Facebook post on the night of Feb 8.
Recovery of the victims from the small commuter aircraft was made by a joint effort of the US Coast Guard, US Air Force and other agencies.
Meanwhile, a crew of nine investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) arrived in Anchorage, Alaska, on Feb 8 to find out why it crashed.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said the Cessna carrying nine passengers and one pilot was lost from radar contact about 3.30pm local time on Feb 6 over the Bering Sea as it headed from Unalakleet, Alaska, to an airfield in Nome, about 161km south of the Arctic Circle.
The US Coast Guard found the wreckage late on Feb 7 on an ice floe about 54km out to sea and drifting about 8km a day, officials said.
“The priority is victim recovery. Then we will recover the wreckage,” Ms Homendy said at a press conference earlier on Feb 8.
Officials had said they would use Black Hawk helicopters to try to lift the wreckage off the ice.
She also expressed her "deepest condolences" to the victims' families and friends.
"Please know that we will work diligently to determine how this happened," she said, adding, "It must be extremely heartbreaking for the families."
On Feb 7, the Coast Guard put two divers in the water and they were able to see into the aircraft, but it was largely inaccessible due to the extent of the damage.
Officials have not identified the victims of the crash. But in a news release late on Feb 7, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) said two of the passengers were their employees, Alaska Public Media reported.
In a press statement received by the news agency, the ANTHC identified two passengers as Mr Rhone Baumgartner and Mr Kameron Hartvigson, who both worked in utility operations for the organisation and had travelled to Unalakleet to service part of the community’s water plant.
In the statement, ANTHC’s interim president and chief executive, Ms 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”.
Neither the ANTHC nor Ms Singh could immediately be reached by Reuters for comment.
The incident comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of air safety in the United States. NTSB investigators are probing two deadly crashes in recent days: the midair collision of a passenger jet and US Army Black Hawk helicopter
