Bering Air: Fatal Caravan crash significantly overweight
March 24, 2025
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its preliminary investigation into the February crash of Bering Air flight 445, which claimed ten lives when the Cessna 20B Grand Caravan came down near Nome, Alaska. Although again refusing to speculate as to whether icing conditions may have contributed to the sequence of events, the aircraft’s weight and balance will now also form key considerations for further investigation.
The single-engine turboprop had departed from Unalakleet airport, Alaska, on its way to Nome, carrying one pilot and nine passengers. However, at around 50 miles east of its destination, the pilot was advised that runway 10/28 was temporarily closed for deicing, a procedure estimated to take approximately 10-15 minutes. The controller suggested the pilot “slow down a little bit” while the runway preparations were completed, which the pilot acknowledged.
Although the aircraft initially throttled back until its airspeed reached about 110 knots, this increased to 120 knots a few minutes later. After commencing its descent and levelling at 4,000ft AMSL, the airspeed started to sharply decrease from 112 knots; passing through 99 and reaching 70 less than 20 seconds later. The final data recorded from onboard avionics suggested the aircraft’s altitude was about 3,100ft.
The aircraft was equipped with an ice protection system, with the pilot telling a customer service representative at Unalakleet before departure that this anti-ice fluid tank was full. Although damage sustained post-crash made it impossible to verify the quantity onboard, “a positive flow of [deicing] fluid was observed from the individual panel sections when fluid was provided at the inlet lines,” confirmed the NTSB.
Although not refuelled immediately before departure, there was also sufficient fuel on board to safely make the leg in question. No significant weather events had been issued for the accident site at the time of the crash, although “light snow and mist, clouds and precipitation, and occasional moderate icing” were prevalent.
However, although the Caravan was equipped with an Aircraft Payload Extender (increasing its maximum gross takeoff weight to 9,062 lbs). preliminary weight analysis estimated the flight’s total weight at departure to be around 9,865 lbs – 1,058 lbs over the maximum permitted weight for flight into known or forecast icing conditions.
The wreckage was located on a large floating icepack on Norton Sound by aerial search and rescue personnel, with the US Coast Guard confirming that “the severity of the wreckage was beyond the possibility of survival”. The NTSB mobilised a ‘go-team’ to respond to the accident, while acknowledging the importance of air travel for remote communities in the region during an initial press conference. “The NTSB knows that villages like Nome and Alaskan aviation are tight-knit communities, so this tragedy affects so many”.
A senior NTSB aerospace engineer will now conduct “a detailed review of the airplane’s performance as part of the investigation, including an evaluation of the airplane’s centre of gravity location,” confirmed the NTSB. Further evaluations of the aircraft’s airframe, engine and propellers are also pending.
