The National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday released its preliminary report centered on the Bering Air crash that killed all 10 on board on Feb. 6.
The nine-page report, detailing some of the information surrounding the crash of Bering Air flight 445, begins with a summary of pilot communications, which includes a recommendation from the controller to the pilot to delay approach to Nome — the flight’s intended destination — due to deicing operations on the runway.
“At 1514, the controller informed the pilot that the runway at PAOM was closed and expected to reopen in 10 to 15 minutes,” according to the report. “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 preliminary report indicates some back and forth between controllers and the pilot, and changes in speed of the aircraft, over the next couple of minutes. According to the report, at this point, the pilot was still following controller instructions, including to descend and maintain a specific altitude.
At 3:19 p.m., five minutes after the recommendation to slow the approach to Nome, and per controller instruction, the pilot leveled the plane at 4,000 feet mean sea level altitude. At this point, engine power started to gradually increase, while the airplane’s airspeed “was about 112 knots and gradually decreasing.”
Moments later, the autopilot disengaged; 19 seconds after that, airspeed had dropped from 99 knots to 70 knots, and altitude was decreasing.
According to the preliminary report, the plane’s altitude had by that point dropped to 3,100 feet above sea level in a matter of seconds, and that marker “was the end of the data available from the onboard avionics.”
The plane had also switched from a western-bound direction to southern-bound as this was happening, the report said.
Seconds after the clock hit 3:20 p.m., the controller then instructed the pilot to climb back up to 4,000 feet and to maintain that altitude. By this point, NTSB data shows, the plane had fallen several thousand feet within about a minute, to 1,325 feet above sea level.
“The final ADS-B data point was recorded at 1520:09,” according to the preliminary report, showing the plane and its pilot and passengers about 32 miles east of Nome’s airport and about 12 miles offshore over the Norton Sound. A third-party tracking system showed an altitude of 200 feet at approximately 17 seconds past 3:20 p.m., just before a controller sent a low-altitude alert to the pilot.
“The controller’s efforts to contact the pilot were not successful,” the NTSB report said, “and no further communications were received.”
Noted within the report were apparent deviations between the allowed payload and the actual weight of the aircraft, given the weather conditions at the time of the crash. According to the NTSB, Federal Aviation Administration records show the aircraft was equipped with an Aircraft Payload Extender III, or APE III, system, “which allowed for an increased maximum gross takeoff weight of 9,062 lbs.”
“According to the operator’s load manifest for flight 445,” the report said, “the baggage and cargo weighed about 709 lbs. The preliminary weight calculations for the accident flight indicated that the gross takeoff weight was about 9,776 lbs. This was about 969 lbs over the maximum takeoff gross weight for flight into known or forecast icing conditions under the TKS system supplement.”
NTSB data also indicated the weight was also about 714 pounds over the maximum gross takeoff weight “for any flight operation under the APE III flight manual supplement.”
In short, also taking baggage and cargo into consideration, the NTSB report showed the airplane’s estimated gross takeoff weight at departure was about 9,865 pounds — or approximately 1,058 pounds overweight for a flight into “known or forecast icing conditions,” and about 803 pounds overweight “for any flight operation under the APE III flight manual supplement.”
Imagery from the agency the day investigators arrived at the crash site shows the plane coming to rest upright, with its propeller separated from the engine and located next to the wreckage, while its fuselage indicated upward crushing damage along its entire length and both wings were damaged, with one partially separated from the fuselage.
“An initial airframe examination revealed no evidence of an in-flight structural failure,” according to the report.
The agency said detailed follow-up examinations of the airframe, engine and propeller are pending, as is a detailed review of the aircraft’s performance and center of gravity, which is to be executed by a senior NTSB aerospace engineer.
The office of Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, released a prepared statement on Wednesday after the preliminary report was released, saying in part that the NTSB chairwoman and acting FAA administrator are expected to testify in front of the Senate Commerce Committee next week.
