Update on the Recovery of Crashed Bering Air Flight
Chair of the National Transportation Security Board, or NTSB, Jennifer Homendy arrived in Alaska to investigate the fatal crash of the Bering Air flight 445, which went down 34 miles southeast of Nome on February 6 with nine passengers and one pilot on board. Homendy spoke to the press on Saturday in Anchorage just after 1 p.m. with a short update.
Recovery efforts are still underway with the priority being victim recovery. Due to incoming snow and difficult weather conditions, there is a short window to retrieve the wreckage. “Please understand that some difficult conditions, because this is on an ice floe, which is moving about five miles a day,” Homendy said.
Nome Volunteer Fire Department Chief Jim West Jr. told the Nugget that two Pave Hawk helicopters are in the area deploying U.S. Air Force Pararescue specialists carrying out recovery efforts.
A tracker has been placed on the plane so they know where it is, and can follow it, Homendy told the Nugget in a phone call. The goal is to recover the bodies today, February 8.
After an initial overview of the crash, Homendy extended condolences to the communities of the Norton Sound region.
“NTSB knows that villages like Nome and Alaska aviation are tight knit communities, so this tragedy affects so many,” Homendy said. “Please know that we'll work diligently to determine how this happened, with the ultimate goal of improving safety here in Alaska and across the United States.”
Homendy said it is still too early to determine the cause of the crash, but a small investigation team is currently in Nome and Homendy will arrive following a briefing with affected families and the NTSB Family Assistance Team. On February 7, NTSB sent nine people to Alaska of “nine different disciplines,” according to Clint Johnson Chief of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska office.
As far as an investigation goes, NTSB personnel could be in Nome for a couple weeks, then additional work will be done, possibly in a lab, Homendy told the Nugget.
“It'll take about 30 days for us to issue a preliminary report with factual information, and then it could take about a year so to complete the investigation. But during that time, if we see any sort of safety deficiencies, we won't hesitate to issue an urgent safety recommendation or urgent safety recommendation report.”