NTSB: Bering Air crash that killed 10 was a chain of preventable failures

The National Transportation Safety Board released its probable cause finding for Bering Air Flight 445, which crashed about 12 miles offshore on Feb. 6, 2025, during the final leg of a commuter run from Unalakleet to Nome. The pilot and all nine passengers were killed.

Investigators found the airplane encountered more severe icing than forecast, including large supercooled water droplets. Archived data from onboard avionics showed the ice protection system worked as designed and kept significant ice off protected surfaces. About six minutes before the crash, air traffic control told the pilot that Nome Airport's runway was closed for deicing and suggested slowing down to reduce holding time.

Managing the ice protection system increased the pilot's workload while he prepared for the approach, and the board determined that workload, combined with the severe icing and the overweight condition, degraded his situational awareness as airspeed decayed until the airplane entered an aerodynamic stall.

"The tragedy of Flight 445 was not the result of a single failure, but a series of preventable breakdowns that eroded critical safety margins," said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, who was on scene in Nome.

The board also found that Bering Air's flight risk assessment and operational control procedures failed to prevent routine overweight operations, and that company load manifests showed a pattern of underreported aircraft weights, with several flights operating above weight limitations. The Federal Aviation Administration did not increase its oversight of the carrier despite rapid growth and greater operational complexity after the pandemic and the bankruptcy of a major competitor, investigators found.

The NTSB recommended the FAA require most charter, air taxi and fractional ownership operators to train pilots on preventing and recovering from in-flight loss of control. It reiterated earlier recommendations for certificated dispatchers at most Part 135 operators, expanded flight data monitoring, broader load manifest requirements and crash-resistant flight recorders on certain aircraft.

Stacey Moncur and other victims' families, through retained counsel, contend that systemic Bering Air practices and regulatory oversight failures shared responsibility for the crash. The NTSB release does not include a response from Bering Air.

The recommendations are advisory. The FAA decides whether to act on them, and Homendy said the lifeline gets safer only once they are implemented.