National Transportation Safety Board releases preliminary report on loss of aircraft that killed all 10 onboard
A commuter plane that crashed on sea ice off Alaska, killing all 10 people onboard, was half a ton overweight for the weather conditions, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report released on Wednesday.
The report said the plane was too heavy for conditions that cause icing at the speed and altitude it was flying.
A final report is expected later.
The 6 February crash was one of Alaska’s deadliest plane crashes this century and the third major US aviation mishap in eight days. A commercial jetliner and an army helicopter collided near the nation’s capital on 29 January, killing 67 people. A medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on 31 January, killing the six people onboard and another person on the ground.
The Bering Air single-engine turboprop plane was on a regularly scheduled afternoon flight between the community of Unalakleet and Nome, a trip of about 150 miles (240km) when authorities lost contact less than an hour after takeoff, David Olson, the director of operations for Bering Air, said at the time.
A review of the plane’s contents following the crash indicated that its estimated gross weight at departure was about 9,865lb (4,475kg) – about 1,058lb over the maximum takeoff gross weight for a flight where icing conditions were in the forecast, the report says.
Messages seeking comment on Wednesday from the NTSB and from Bering Air were not immediately returned.
The Cessna Caravan went missing about 30 miles south-east of Nome. After an extensive search, the wreckage was found the following day on a drifting ice floe. The pilot and all nine passengers had been killed.
Radar data provided by the US civil air patrol indicated the plane rapidly lost elevation and speed, but it was unclear why that happened, the US Coast Guard has said. The agency was unaware of any distress signals from the plane.
The plane was flying in an area where moderate icing was possible between 2,000ft (610 meters) and 8,000ft and where the weather could be hazardous to light aircraft, the NTSB chair, Jennifer Homendy, said at a news conference in Nome last month. She said the plane, which was last spotted on radar at 3,400ft, had an anti-icing system on its wings and tail, and that the equipment would be examined as part of the investigation.
NTSB preliminary reports do not usually reveal the cause of a crash since the investigation is still ongoing. A final report, which does usually contain the cause, will be released later.
This story originally appeared on The Guardian.
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