All 10 victims of the fatal Alaska plane crash have been recovered and identified, officials say

Search and rescue teams announced on Saturday that the bodies of all 10 victims from the downed regional airline flight had been recovered and identified. The Nome Volunteer Fire Department stated on Saturday evening: "All ten souls from the Bering Air flight have been formally transported home." Currently, Nome search and rescue operations are prepared and awaiting Bering Air personnel to complete the recovery of the aircraft wreckage.

The small commuter plane, carrying nine passengers and one pilot, went missing on Thursday afternoon after taking off from Unalakleet. The U.S. Coast Guard reported that the wreckage was found on Friday approximately 54 kilometers southeast of Nome, the flight's intended destination. All 10 people on board were pronounced dead, marking a devastating loss for the community.

Alaska State Troopers confirmed that the deceased pilot was 34-year-old Chad Antill from Nome, and the passengers included 52-year-old Liane Ryan, 58-year-old Donnell Erickson, 30-year-old Andrew Gonzalez, 41-year-old Kameron Hartvigson, 46-year-old Rhone Baumgartner, 52-year-old Jadee Moncur, 45-year-old Ian Hofmann, 34-year-old Talaluk Katchatag, and 48-year-old Carol Mooers.

The aircraft wreckage is currently located on sea ice, which officials described as young and unstable. Heavy snow and strong winds are expected in the area this weekend. Authorities stated that the bodies will be recovered first, followed by the removal of the aircraft for further analysis. Jim West, head of the Nome Volunteer Fire Department, said at a Friday evening news conference: "We don't know how long this is going to take. It could be hours, it could be days. We have 18 hours of potential recovery time tomorrow," referring to the changing conditions at the crash site and the impending weather.

A winter weather alert is currently in effect until 9 p.m. (local time) on Sunday, with blowing snow, rain, and mixed precipitation expected in Nome and other parts of western Alaska. The National Weather Service stated that some areas could see up to 5 inches of snowfall, with ice accumulation of approximately one-tenth of an inch, and wind gusts reaching up to 73 kilometers per hour. "It's a dynamic situation out there, so we have to do this as safely and as quickly as we can," he added, emphasizing the urgency and challenges posed by the weather.

Investigators are working to determine the cause of the crash, as well as how the plane suddenly lost altitude and speed. Officials said that analyzing air traffic control data will be key to the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy stated at a Saturday news conference that the NTSB has nine people working on site, with a dozen more specialists supporting them in Washington, D.C. "Please understand there are some difficult conditions because this is on the ice, and it moves about five miles a day," she added, highlighting the logistical complexities.

The Coast Guard stated that the Cessna aircraft, operated by Bering Air, was approximately 19 kilometers from the coast when it lost its position. Coast Guard Lieutenant Benjamin McIntyre-Coble said that the aircraft "experienced some sort of event that caused it to rapidly descend in altitude and speed" at approximately 3:18 p.m. on Thursday. Officials indicated that the search for the aircraft was complicated by several factors, including inclement weather and the missing plane not transmitting its location via an emergency transmitter.

Visibility improved for searchers on Friday morning: skies were clear at the Nome airport around 10 a.m., with temperatures around -15 degrees Celsius. The fire department stated that the National Guard and Coast Guard added helicopter search crews on Friday morning, and another Coast Guard C-130 landed in Nome to assist in the search.

During a vigil hosted by the city of Nome on Friday, Pastor Amanda Snyder of Our Savior Lutheran Church urged attendees to lean on each other for support. "Please do not isolate yourself in your grief. In the days to come, in the weeks to come, as we start to hear which families were affected, our hearts are going to break over and over again, and grief is okay, but please do not isolate yourself," Snyder said.

"Words cannot express the loss that all of us are feeling, and we are connected in so many ways," said Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who participated in the vigil via video conference. "It's hard to accept the reality of what we've lost."

Due to Alaska's vast landscape and lack of readily available transportation infrastructure, it is not uncommon for Alaskans to travel between locations via small aircraft. "This is just heartbreaking. Because everybody in this room has been on one of those planes," Snyder told the city's local newspaper, [The Nome Nugget](http://www.nomenugget.com/news/nome-prays-missing-plane).

Two employees of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Rhone Baumgartner and Kameron Hartvigson, were traveling to Unalakleet "to service a heat recovery system that is critical to the community’s water plant," the non-profit organization said on Friday evening. "Rhone Baumgartner and Kameron Hartvigson were passionate about the work they did, cared deeply about the communities they served, and made a lasting impact on our state’s rural communities," said ANTHC Interim President and CEO Natasha Singh in a statement. "They were the best at what they did and were just flying to Unalakleet to help address heating and mechanical issues in the dead of winter. They made the ultimate sacrifice for the people we serve and the work we do."

Homendy said she understood the tragic impact the crash has had on the region. "The NTSB knows that villages like Nome and aviation in Alaska are tight-knit communities, so this tragedy affects so many," she said Saturday. "Please know that we will work to determine how this happened with the ultimate goal of improving safety in Alaska and across the United States."