Donnell Erickson,Andrew Gonzalez Obituary, Death; – The remains of all ten individuals who perished in the Bering Air caravan crash in Alaska on Thursday have been retrieved from the wreckage, as reported by the Alaska State Troopers.
Bering Air Flight 445, a Cessna 208B, went down into sea ice approximately 34 miles southeast of Nome, Alaska, after it was reported missing during a flight on Thursday afternoon, according to authorities.
Onboard the commuter aircraft were nine adult passengers and a pilot, as stated by officials. The bodies of all ten individuals were recovered and transported to Nome for identification, as indicated in an update provided on Saturday.
The pilot has been identified as Chad Antill, 34, from Nome. The nine passengers include Liane Ryan, 52, from Wasilla; Donnell Erickson, 58, from Nome; Andrew Gonzalez, 30, from Wasilla; Kameron Hartvigson, 41, from Anchorage; Rhone Baumgartner, 46, from Anchorage; Jadee Moncur, 52, from Eagle River; Ian Hofmann, 45, from Anchorage; Talaluk Katchatag, 34, from Unalakleet; and Carol Mooers, 48, from Unalakleet.
Earlier reports from ABC News confirmed that two of the passengers, Baumgartner and Hartvigson, were employees of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing health services to Alaska Native communities.
They were part of the organization’s environmental health and engineering department and had traveled to Unalakleet to maintain a heat recovery system essential for the community’s water plant, according to consortium leaders.
David Beveridge, the vice president of environmental health and engineering for the organization, stated, “Both men were driven by a profound commitment to our mission. They possessed the skills necessary to assist people throughout Alaska and the dedication to do so under any circumstances. These two members of our team lost their lives in service to others.”
The wreckage of the aircraft was located on Friday. Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, remarked on Saturday that it is still premature to determine the cause of the crash as the agency commences its investigation. Weather conditions impacted both the recovery efforts and the investigation.
