Plane crash which killed 10 in Alaska was half a ton overweight, investigation finds

The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report

US investigators say the small Alaska plane was overweight for icy conditions (NTSB)

The plane involved in the Alaska regional airline crash that killed 10 people was found to be about half a ton overweight for a flight in icy conditions, US investigators said on Wednesday.

Bering Air Flight 445 was reported missing just before 4pm local time on 6 February while en route from Unalakleet to Nome in the west of Alaska, yet the flight ended in one of the deadliest plane crashes in the state for 25 years.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a preliminary report that calculations showed that the plane’s estimated gross takeoff weight at departure was 9,865lbs, around 1,058lbs (roughly just under half a ton) heavier than the maximum for icy conditions, the NTSB said.

Clint Johnson, from NTSB’s Alaska region, told the Associated Press that the weight, however, is just a “data point” in the ongoing investigation and a final report including probable causes will take a year or more after the crash.

Records also show the aircraft used a payload extender, allowing planes to increase the maximum weight, but despite this, the plane was still 803lbs over the limit for any flight operations.

Mr Johnson added that it remains to be determined whether the weight of the plane would have been a factor in the accident.

The NTSB said a senior engineer will conduct a detailed review of the plane’s performance, including its centre of gravity location.

The investigators will also be reviewing all weather factors pertaining to the accident, as well as what information was relayed to the pilot about the weather and if ice conditions existed at the crash locations.

Mr Johnson said that icing conditions were forecast along the route, and it was snowing, with some freezing rain in Nome.

The report also reveals that contact was lost minutes after air traffic control told the pilot the runway in Nome would be closed for about 15 minutes for de-icing.

“The controller added that if the pilot wanted to ‘slow down a little bit’ to prevent the flight from arriving before the runway reopened, that would be fine, and the pilot acknowledged,” the report states.

The pilot handbook specifies that an air speed of 95 knots must be maintained to fly in icing conditions if de-icing equipment is fully functional.

The pilot was told to descend and maintain 4,000 feet at his discretion, then the autopilot disengaged at 99 knots, then dropped within seconds to 70 knots and was at about 3,100 feet, the report says.

The final satellite tracking data came less than one minute later at 3.20pm at an altitude of 200 feet.

The report also looked into the anti-icing system on the wings and the tail of the turbo-propeller plane.

The operator said the quantity of de-icing fluid was checked during each preflight inspection, with the pilot being responsible for ensuring there was a sufficient quantity onboard.

However, no record is required when the fluid is added to the plane. A worker at the Unalakleet airport told the pilot that the fluid was available, but the pilot told her the tank was full, the report says.

The plane, a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, had been carrying nine adult passengers and a pilot on a “regular commuter flight” before it disappeared.

The plane took off from Unalakleet, a small community of 690 people, at 2.37pm towards Nome, before officials lost contact with it less than an hour later.

Two days later, the Nome Volunteer Fire Department said in a Facebook post that the bodies of all 10 victims who died in the crash had been recovered.

“All 10 individuals aboard the Bering Air plane have been officially brought home to Nome,” they wrote.

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