Bering Air flight 445 with 10 people on board crashed in Alaska

[raisedbywolves]

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/07/us/al...hnk/index.html

I'm guessing we're looking at the 3rd fatal crash since the inauguration. Glad we are throwing away our safety system for air travel.

—

A search of Alaskan waters is underway in rough weather after a regional airline flight with 10 people on board went missing, according to local and state officials.

The Cessna aircraft, operated by Bering Air, was en route Thursday from Unalakleet to Nome, cities in western Alaska separated by the Norton Sound inlet, according to the Alaska State Troopers. The state police agency was notified at 4 p.m. “an overdue aircraft” had gone missing with nine passengers and a pilot on board, it said in a news release.

The Nome Volunteer Fire Department was conducting ground searches from Nome and White Mountain but was limited in air searches due to poor weather and visibility, it said on Facebook. The US Coast Guard and US Air Force stepped in to help, with flights planned to scope out the area and try to locate the missing aircraft, the department said.

Bering Air is based in Nome and serves more than 30 local communities, according to its website

[Bewitchingstorm]

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/07/us/al...hnk/index.html

I'm guessing we're looking at the 3rd fatal crash since the inauguration. Glad we are throwing away our safety system for air travel.

I hate to say it, but I was expecting one more crash, as things tend to happen in threes.

[raisedbywolves]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...ska-rcna191297

A crashed airplane with three dead people inside has been found in western Alaska during the search for a flight that went missing Thursday with 10 people aboard, the Coast Guard said Friday.

The crashed plane was found around 34 miles southeast of Nome, the Coast Guard said in an update on X.

"3 individuals were found inside and reported to be deceased. Our thoughts are with those affected by this tragic incident," the Coast Guard said.

"From reports we have received, the crash was not survivable," it said on Facebook. "Our thoughts are with the families at this time."

The crashed plane matched the description of the missing Bering Air Cessna Caravan that took off from Unalakleet to Nome on Thursday, the Coast Guard said.

Ten people — nine passengers and one pilot — were reported to have been aboard. The conditions or more information about the seven other people possibly on the plane were not immediately clear.

[Angiebla]

If there was poor weather and visibility, why were they even flying?

[raisedbywolves]

If there was poor weather and visibility, why were they even flying?

Lots of flights fly in poor weather and visibility. Pilots are trained to fly under instruments, without being able to see outside. Some weather/visibility IS too extreme, but if they were dispatched to take off then it wasn't too extreme at the time. Things may have changed during the flight, but I am wondering about the really young, really inexperienced pilots that were hired due to the pilot shortage late in the pandemic. I have nothing to support that though, just thinking about it.

[Angiebla]

Lots of flights fly in poor weather and visibility. Pilots are trained to fly under instruments, without being able to see outside. Some weather/visibility IS too extreme, but if they were dispatched to take off then it wasn't too extreme at the time. Things may have changed during the flight, but I am wondering about the really young, really inexperienced pilots that were hired due to the pilot shortage late in the pandemic. I have nothing to support that though, just thinking about it.

That makes sense about the young pilots. They may not have experience flying in that type of weather.

[raisedbywolves]

Sounds like ice buildup.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2pxe5qq7lo

Among the dead were Rhone Baumgartner and Kameron Hartvigson, two employees of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.

They had travelled to Unalakleet to carry out maintenance work on a water plant, the non-profit organisation said on Friday.

Ms Homendy said recovery workers were dealing with deteriorating weather conditions and that the wreckage had landed on an ice floe which is moving at a rate of five miles a day.

The Nome volunteer fire department said the pilot had told air traffic controllers that "he intended to enter a holding pattern while waiting for the runway to be cleared".

The US Coast Guard later said the plane had experienced a rapid loss in altitude and speed before contact was lost.

Footage showed low visibility in the area around the time of the crash.