Plaintiffs move to strike Bering Air's claims against four they call federal employees

Plaintiffs in two Nome Superior Court wrongful-death suits against Bering Air moved Oct. 30 to strike and dismiss or sever the airline's third-party claims against four people. The motion's title calls them "Individual Federal Employees." No docket names an employer or agency for them.

Bering Air filed the third-party claims, dated Oct. 22, in three suits: Moncur, Hofmann and Cerda. The plaintiffs in Moncur and Hofmann, Stacey Moncur and Brigette Hofmann, share lawyers, Robert F. Hedrick and Casey Alan DuBose of Aviation Law Group. They brought the motion. The court granted expedited consideration Monday. Bering Air opposed Wednesday, and the plaintiffs replied Thursday. No ruling has come yet.

The four are Mark Davis, Michael Farrens, Steven Kelsey and Benjamin Kendall. No attorney is listed for them. As of Thursday afternoon, no docket shows a summons issued to them or proof they were served.

Bering Air is a defendant in five wrongful-death suits filed in Nome this year. Textron Aviation, the plane's maker, is also a defendant in three. A fifth suit, filed Oct. 30 by Whitney Bowers and the Estate of Andrew R. Gonzalez, names Bering Air as the sole defendant.

The dockets do not mention Bering Air Flight 445's Feb. 6, 2025, crash that killed 10 people, but the suits appear tied to it. Trooper records name Jadee Moncur, Ian Hofmann and Andrew Gonzalez among the dead. Aviation Law Group said in February that the first suit arises from the crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board's July report found the pilot's airspeed management and the plane's overweight operation caused the crash, with inadequate Bering Air safety management and FAA oversight contributing, as Alaska News reported July 30. The report found air traffic control was not a factor. Federal law bars using the report in civil damages suits.

The NTSB's public docket carries the same four names, one spelled differently, in air traffic control interviews. Three are listed as controllers or training instructors at the FAA's Anchorage center. One is listed as a representative for a Nome flight service controller. No available court record confirms they are the same people.