JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The operator of a commuter plane that crashed on sea ice off Alaska last year, killing all 10 people on board, had a history of overweight flights, according to federal investigators.
The National Transportation Safety Board, in a report released Thursday, also found the Federal Aviation Administration’s oversight of the company, Bering Air, was inadequate.
Both were contributing factors to the February 2025 crash, which was one of Alaska’s deadliest plane crashes this century. The NTSB also determined the pilot did not monitor and maintain adequate airspeed, likely because he was trying to manage the plane’s ice protection system while preparing to approach the airport in Nome. And it said the plane was overweight for a trip into icy conditions. The airport itself had temporarily closed its runways for de-icing, the agency said.
The Associated Press sent a message seeking comment to Bering Air. The FAA released a statement in response to questions stating it “takes NTSB recommendations seriously and will carefully review them.”
Recommendations made by the NTSB to the FAA include calling for pilot training on preventing and recovering from loss of control in flight for many charter and air taxi operators. The NTSB also raised prior recommendations, such as expanded use of flight data monitoring programs and broader load manifest requirements.
The NTSB said it found a pattern of underreported weights on Bering Air flight manifests and flights operating above weight limits.
The agency said the FAA failed to recognize the air carrier’s “increased operational complexity and rapid growth” after the pandemic and bankruptcy of its largest competitor as factors warranting increased oversight. The report said the FAA’s oversight “failed to identify and address the routine operation of overweight flights.”
Jennifer Homendy, the NTSB chair, in a statement said the tragedy “was not the result of a single failure, but a series of preventable breakdowns that eroded critical safety margins.”
The plane was flying as part of a regularly scheduled commuter flight from the community of Unalakleet to Nome, a 150-mile (240-kilometer) trip. Authorities have said that the aircraft went missing about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Nome. The wreckage was recovered from a drifting ice floe.
