CNN
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The bodies of all 10 people killed when a flight from a local airline crashed on the western Alaska coast have been recovered and identified, authorities said Saturday.
The Norm Volunteer Fire Department said in a Facebook post Saturday night. “Nome SAR's efforts are supported by the Bering Air Crew to complete aircraft recovery operations.”
The small commuter carrying nine passengers and one pilot took off from Unalakleet and headed for Nome on Thursday afternoon before disappearing. The plane was later discovered Friday about 34 miles southeast of Gnome, according to the US Coast Guard. All 10 people on the ship were declared dead.
The plane pilot was Chad Antille, a 34-year-old gnome, but the passenger was identified as Lean Ryan, 52 by an Alaska trooper. Donnell Erickson, 58; Andrew Gonzalez, 30; Kameron Hartvigson, 41; Rhone Baumgartner, 46; Jadee Moncur, 52; Ian Hoffman, 45; Talaluk Katchatag, 34; Carol Mu –Ars, 48.
The crash came a week after an American Airlines plane and a Black Hawk helicopter collided in Washington, DC, killing 67 people, rattling the aviation industry and expanding the FAA safety review. That collision, along with the crash in Alaska, is two of the deadliest plane disasters in the US in the past decade.
The wreckage is currently resting on the ice with officials calling it young and unstable, with heavy snow and winds in the area expected this weekend. The plane's wreckage was expected to be taken for further analysis, officials said.
“I don't know how long it will take. It may go for hours. It could potentially be a few days. NOME Volunteer Fire Station Chief Jim West is a reporter on Friday night. At the press conference, he quoted the ever-changing conditions at the crash site and the following weather:
The National Weather Service announced that Winter Weather Advisory will remain active until 9pm on Sunday, with snow, rain and mixed precipitation expected.
The NWS says that up to five inches of snow can be seen in some areas, with about a tenth of an inch of ice buildup. A gust of wind height of 45 mph is also recorded.
“The conditions there are dynamic, so we need to be safe and as fast as possible,” West added.
Investigators are working to determine the cause of the crash – and how the Cessna 208b Grand Caravan suddenly dropped at elevation and speed. An analysis of air traffic control data is key to the National Road Safety Commission's investigation, officials said.
The NTSB has nine people working on the ground along with dozens of experts who will be back in Washington, D.C., NTSB Chairman Jennifer Holmey said at a press conference on Saturday.
“It's due to ice foaming, so understand that there are some difficult conditions.
According to the Coast Guard, the Cessna aircraft operated by Beringair was about 12 miles offshore when its location was lost. The plane had not communicated its location through an emergency transmitter, officials said.
The aircraft “experienced some event, with rapid losses in elevation and rapid losses in speed,” Coast Guard Commander Benjamin McInty Recoble said at about 3:18pm on Thursday.
The FAA camera monitoring the weather on Nome showed what appears to be “almost whiteout conditions” over several hours of crash afternoons, according to CNN affiliate KTUU.
According to an update from the Norm Volunteer Fire Station Facebook page, the plane pilot told Anchorage Air Transport Control that he intended to enter the holding pattern while waiting for the Norm runway to be cleared.
Due to the vast landscape and lack of transportation infrastructure, it is not uncommon for Alaskans to travel from place to place by small planes.
On Friday, on a vigil hosted by the city of Norme, a neighborhood of about 9,700 people, Amanda Snyder, pastor of our Savior Lutheran Church, urged attendees to lean in for each other for support.
“Don't isolate yourself in grief. In the coming weeks, our minds will break again and again as we begin to hear which families are affected by what kind of impacts. It's okay to lament, but don't quarantine.”
“It's just heartbreaking because each and every one of these rooms was on one of those planes,” Snyder told the city's local paper, Norm Nuggett. “It bumps into the house.”
“Words can't express the loss we all feel. We all connect in so many ways,” said Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who joined Vigil on video conference. I did. “It's hard to accept the reality of our losses.”
Norm Mayor John Handland said at a press conference: By this tragic event. ”
Handland offered his prayers and said, “I'll hold your people firmly and frequently tonight.”
In Unalakleet, a city of less than 800 people and a well-known local family, Hansens makes pizza at the restaurant for Beringair staff and Friday church and school events. Ktuu reported.
Two passengers in the fatal crash, Cameron Hartvigson and Rhone Baumgartner, are employees of the Tribal Health Consortium from Alaska, to “service heat recovery systems essential to community water plants.” “In,” the accuser said Friday night.
“Rhone Baumgartner and Kameron Hartvigson were passionate about the work they did, cared deeply for the communities they served, and had a lasting impact on rural communities across our state.”
“They were the best they did and just jumped into the Arlanklate to deal with the heating and mechanical issues in the depths of winter. They were doing us at the work we do. has given the ultimate sacrifice to those who serve.”
Homedy said he understands how tragic the crash is for the area.
“The tragedy will have a huge impact because the NTSB knows that villages like Gnome and Alaska Airlines are close-knit communities,” she said Saturday. “We have the ultimate goal of improving safety here in Alaska and across the United States, so know that we're working diligently to determine how this happened.”
CNN's Sarah Dewberry, Emma Tucker, Rebekah Riess, Chimaine Pouteau, Jeremy Harlan and Kelly Murray contributed to this report.
