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The 10 victims of a regional air flight which crashed off the coast of western Alaska were recovered, the authorities announced on Saturday.
“The ten individuals aboard the Bering airplane were officially brought home,” said Nome’s voluntary fire service in an article on Facebook on Saturday evening. “Nome’s SAR’s efforts behave for our Béring air team to complete their aircraft recovery operations.”
The small suburban plane carrying nine passengers and a pilot took off from Unalakleet Thursday afternoon before disappearing. Friday, the plane was found Friday at around 34 miles southeast of Nome, the expected flight destination, according to the American Coast Guard. The 10 on board were declared dead.
The wreck is currently based on sea ice that managers described as young and unstable, and snow and heavy winds in the region are expected this weekend. The bodies were recovered, then the plane will be taken for a more in -depth analysis, officials said.
“We don’t know how long it will take. It could spend hours; It could spend days potentially. To come see you tomorrow, we have 6 pm of potential recovery time, “said Jim West, head of the Fire Service of Nome Volunteer, during a press conference on Friday evening, citing the conditions in constant evolution of the site of the accident and incoming weather conditions.
A winter weather opinion is now in effect until 9 p.m. Sunday, with snow, rain and mixed precipitation to wait in Nome and other parts of western Alaska, the National Weather Service announced .
Some areas can see up to five inches of snow, with accumulations of ice of about a tenth inch, said the NWS. Wind gusts up to 45 MPH will also be recorded.
“The conditions are dynamic, so we have to do it safely and the fastest we can,” he added.
Investigators work to determine the cause of the accident – and how the plane suddenly dropped in elevation and speed. Analysis of air traffic control data will be the key to the National Transportation Safety Board probe, officials said.
The NTSB has nine people working in the field with a dozen specialists supporting them in Washington, DC, said the president of the NTSB, Jennifer Homendy, at a press conference on Saturday.
“Please understand that there are difficult conditions, because it is on a Floe of ice, which moves about five miles a day,” she added.
The Cessna plane, operated by Bering Air, was about 12 miles offshore when its position was lost, according to the Coast Guard.
The plane “experienced a kind of event that subjected them to a rapid elevation loss and a rapid speed loss” around 3:18 p.m. Thursday, said Lieutenant-commander of the Coast Guard Benjamin McIntyre-Coble.
The search for the plane had been complicated by multiple factors, including the weather and the missing plan had not communicated its position through an emergency transmitter, officials said.
Visibility was better for researchers on Friday morning: the sky was clear at Nome airport around 10 am, with temperatures of around 5 degrees. The National Guard and the Coast Guard added the helicopter research teams to the effort on Friday morning, while another C-130 coastal guard landed in Nome to help research, said the fire service .
Friday, during a vigil organized by the city of Nome, Amanda Snyder, pastor of the Lutheran church of our Savior, urged those present to rely on each other.
“Please do not isolate yourself in your sorrow. In the coming days, in the weeks, when we start to hear the affected families, our hearts will break, and it is normal to cry and sorrow, but do not isolate yourself, “said Snyder.
“The words cannot express the loss that we all feel, we are all connected in many ways,” said alaska senator, Lisa Murkowski, who joined the vigil by video. “It is difficult to accept the reality of our loss.”
It is not unusual for Alaskans to travel between places by small plane due to the vast landscape and the lack of available transport infrastructure.
“It’s just heartbreaking. Because each person in this room has been on one of these planes, “Snyder told Nome Nugget, the local newspaper of the city. “It strikes the house.”
Among the deceased, two employees of the native tribal health consortium of Alaska, Rhône Baumgartner and Kameron Hartvigson, who went to Unalakleet “to serve a heat recovery system which is essential at the water plant community, “said Friday evening.
“The Rhône Baumgartner and Kameron Hartvigson were passionate about the work they have done, cared profoundly about the communities they served, and had a lasting impact on the rural communities of our state,” said Natasha Singh, president Interim of Anthc, in a press release.
“They were the best in what they did and had just stolen in Unalakleet to help solve heating and mechanical problems in the depths of winter. They gave the ultimate sacrifice for the people we serve in the work we do. »»
Mumendy said that she understood how tragic the accident was in the region.
“The NTSB knows that villages like Nome and Alaska Aviation are united communities, so this tragedy affects so many people,” she said on Saturday. “Please know that we will work with diligence to determine how it happened, in order to improve security here in Alaska and the United States.”
Sarah Dewberry of CNN, Emma Tucker, Rebekah Riess, Chimaine Pouteau and Jeremy Harlan contributed to this report.