JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The operator of a commuter plane that crashed on sea ice off Alaska last year, killing all 10 people on board, had a history of overweight flights, according to federal investigators.
The National Transportation Safety Board, in a report released Thursday, also found the Federal Aviation Administration's oversight of the company, Bering Air, was inadequate.
Both were contributing factors to the February 2025 crash, which was one of Alaska's deadliest plane crashes this century. The NTSB also determined the pilot did not monitor and maintain adequate airspeed, likely because he was trying to manage the plane's ice protection system while preparing to approach the airport in Nome. And it said the plane was overweight for a trip into icy conditions. The airport itself had temporarily closed its runways for de-icing, the agency said.
The Associated Press sent a message seeking comment to Bering Air. The FAA released a statement in response to questions stating it “takes NTSB recommendations seriously and will carefully review them.”
Recommendations made by the NTSB to the FAA include calling for pilot training on preventing and recovering from loss of control in flight for many charter and air taxi operators. The NTSB also raised prior recommendations, such as expanded use of flight data monitoring programs and broader load manifest requirements.
The NTSB said it found a pattern of underreported weights on Bering Air flight manifests and flights operating above weight limits.
The agency said the FAA failed to recognize the air carrier’s “increased operational complexity and rapid growth” after the pandemic and bankruptcy of its largest competitor as factors warranting increased oversight. The report said the FAA's oversight “failed to identify and address the routine operation of overweight flights.”
Jennifer Homendy, the NTSB chair, in a statement said the tragedy “was not the result of a single failure, but a series of preventable breakdowns that eroded critical safety margins.”
The plane was flying as part of a regularly scheduled commuter flight from the community of Unalakleet to Nome, a 150-mile (240-kilometer) trip. Authorities have said that the aircraft went missing about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Nome. The wreckage was recovered from a drifting ice floe.
FILE - This photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard on Feb. 7, 2025, shows a small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on a flight that was bound for the hub community of Nome. (U.S. Coast Guard via AP, File)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Ten international climbers led by a renowned Nepal-born mountaineer were missing after an avalanche struck Broad Peak, one of the world’s highest mountains in northern Pakistan.
The Alpine Club of Pakistan received initial reports that the avalanche struck the team led by Nirmal Purja and the climbers have been out of communication since then, club Vice President Karrar Haidri said in a statement late Thursday.
The expedition includes five Nepalese climbers, Pakistani mountaineer Sohail Sakhi of Hunza, Omani climber Nathira, American climber Mallory Geis, a Chinese climber identified as Wang, and another foreign climber, Haidri said.
The club's president, Maj. Gen. Irfan Arshad, and its senior leaders were in contact with government officials to facilitate an immediate search-and-rescue operation.
The club said every effort was being made to mobilize helicopters and other rescue resources quickly, subject to weather and operational conditions.
Nirmal Purja, whom the club identified by a second name, Nims Dai, is a Nepal-born British citizen who scaled the world's 14 highest peaks in 189 days in 2019, holding a record for the fastest climb until a Norwegian woman and her Nepali Sherpa guide set a new record in 2023. Purja’s climbs were made into a popular Netflix documentary, “14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible.”
Moving Mountains, a travel company based in Pakistan, announced late last month that the expedition team was on its way to the small town of Askole and wished them a safe journey climbing Broad Peak. The company said this was Geis’ first try at an 8,000-meter peak in Pakistan, while it was expected to be Sakhi’s final one.
Sakhi is a guide for the company, as well as a geographer and high-altitude photographer, and has climbed some of the world’s major peaks, according to Moving Mountains’ website.
Geis, 39, lives in San Antonio and is an avid traveler who loves being outdoors, according to her Instagram page. She announced on social media earlier this year that she was closing her Pilates studio to take “a giant leap of faith into the unknown to see where life goes. I have a sneaking suspicion there will be lots of helmets, harnesses, and crampons involved.”
The 8,047-meter (26,401-foot) Broad Peak in the Karakoram range is the world's 12th highest mountain. Pakistan is home to several top mountain peaks and climbers flock from all over the world to attempt to scale the summits.
“The Alpine Club of Pakistan is closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with all concerned stakeholders,” the statement said. It added that the club stands in solidarity with the climbers’ families and the international mountaineering community.
FILE - Nirmal Purja, one of the team member of the all-Nepalese mountaineering team that became the first to scale Mount K2 in winter, gestures as the team arrives at Tribhuwan International airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Jan. 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha, File)
