A commuter plane that crashed on sea ice off Alaska, killing all 10 people on board, was half a ton overweight for a trip into icy conditions, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report released on Wednesday.
Advertisement
The weight is just a “data point” in the continuing investigation, cautioned Clint Johnson, who runs the NTSB’s Alaska region. A final report including probable causes can take a year or more after a crash.
The February 6 Bering Air crash was one of Alaska’s deadliest plane crashes this century and the third major US aviation mishap in an eight-day stretch. A commercial aircraft and an Army helicopter collided over the Potomac River on January 29, killing 67 people. A medical transport plane crashed in Philadelphia on January 31, killing all six on board and another person on the ground.
Small planes such as the Cessna Caravan in this crash are the workhorses of Alaska, where most of the state’s 200-plus villages are beyond the road system and only accessible by air or boat. Residents rely on the commuter planes to get them to medical appointments, meetings and to go shopping, among other necessities.
The single-engine turboprop plane was flying that afternoon from the community of Unalakleet to Nome, a trip of about 240km (150 miles), when authorities lost contact less than an hour after take-off, David Olson, director of operations for Bering Air, said at the time. The Cessna Caravan went missing about 50km (30 miles) from its destination.
Advertisement
A review of the plane’s contents following the crash indicated its estimated gross weight at departure was about 4475kg (9,865lbs) – about 480kg (1,058lbs) over the maximum take-off gross weight for a flight into areas where icing is in the forecast, the report says. The pilot operating handbook notes the maximum allowable take-off gross weight for a flight into such conditions was the same as the basic plane, 3995kg (8,807lbs).