Latest news with #Flight445
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Yahoo
Newark air traffic slowed as official says flights 'are absolutely safe'
The air traffic in and out of Newark will be slowed on Wednesday, officials said, while insisting travel in and out of the busy hub near New York City remains "absolutely safe." The slowdown comes in the wake of stunning revelations that controllers lost radio contact with pilots flying into one of the nation's busiest airports in recent months. "The FAA has been slowing arrivals and departures at Newark Liberty International Airport due to runway construction at Newark and staffing and technology issues at Philadelphia" where the Terminal Radar Approach Control system (TRACON) guides regional air traffic, according to an FAA statement. "The FAA is taking immediate steps to improve the reliability of operations at Newark Liberty International Airport. This includes accelerating technological and logistical improvements and increasing air traffic controller staffing." Scott Kirby, CEO of Untied Airlines, one of the EWR's major carriers, insisted that travelers should feel safe flying out of Newark. "First and most importantly, all the flights in and out of EWR are absolutely safe," Kirby said in a statement on Wednesday. "When there are FAA issues — technology outages, staffing shortages, etc. — the FAA requires all airlines to slow down aircraft and/or cancel flights to maintain the highest levels of safety." Even if a airliner loses contact with air traffic controllers, pilots know how to safely guide their jets, the airline executive said. "We do our part to maintain safety as well. As you all know, our pilots have thousands of hours of flight experience and supplement that with regular simulator training — we also have procedures that our pilots follow to re-establish communication if controllers lose radio contact to navigate the airplane safely to its destination," Kirby added. "In short, neither the FAA nor United pilots will ever compromise on safety." Despite these assurances, air safety has come under increasing scrutiny in the wake of several tragedies that've unfolded this year. An American Eagle jet and a military Black Hawk helicopter collided in the air over Reagan Airport outside of Washington D.C., killing all 67 people aboard both crafts on Jan. 29. An air ambulance crashed in northeast Philadelphia, killing seven people and injuring about two dozen more on Feb. 1. Bering Air Flight 445 crashed on its way from Unalakleet, Alaska to Nome on Feb. 6, killing all 10 people on board. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Yahoo
Southwest flight tried to take off from Florida taxiway after crew mistook it for runway
A Southwest Airlines flight nearly took off from a Florida taxiway on Thursday before an air traffic controller stopped the potentially dangerous departure, officials said. The incident involving Flight 3278 unfolded at Orlando International Airport at 9:30 a.m. as the plane attempted to depart for Albany, officials said. Southwest Airlines said its crew 'mistook the surface for the nearby runway' and no injuries were reported. Taxiways are used by planes to get to runways, from gates and hangars. They're not designed for takeoffs. "An air traffic controller at Orlando International Airport canceled the takeoff clearance for Southwest Airlines Flight 3278 ... after the aircraft began its takeoff roll on a taxiway," according to a Federal Aviation Administration statement. "The taxiway runs parallel to the runway. The flight was headed to Albany International Airport in New York. No other aircraft were involved. The FAA is investigating." All the Albany-bound travelers were put on another flight, with a new crew, the airline said. While federal officials continue to remind Americans that air travel is as safe as it's ever been, a series of recent catastrophes and incidents has spooked the flying public. A midair collision near Ronald Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29 killed 67 people aboard a military helicopter and American Flight 5342 from Wichita. An air ambulance crashed in northeast Philadelphia on Feb. 1, killing seven people. All 10 people on board Bering Air Flight 445 died when the plane crashed on its way to Nome, Alaska, on Feb. 6. Delta Air Lines Flight 4819, from Minneapolis, flipped upside down on the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Feb. 17. No one was killed but 18 people were injured. Southwest Flight 2504 and a private jet nearly collided at Chicago's Midway International Airport on Feb. 25. "Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees," SWA said of its latest incident. This is a developing story. Please check back for article was originally published on
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Plane crash which killed 10 in Alaska was half a ton overweight, investigation finds
The plane involved in the Alaska regional airline crash that killed 10 people was found to be about half a ton overweight for a flight in icy conditions, US investigators said on Wednesday. Bering Air Flight 445 was reported missing just before 4pm local time on 6 February while en route from Unalakleet to Nome in the west of Alaska, yet the flight ended in one of the deadliest plane crashes in the state for 25 years. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a preliminary report that calculations showed that the plane's estimated gross takeoff weight at departure was 9,865lbs, around 1,058lbs (roughly just under half a ton) heavier than the maximum for icy conditions, the NTSB said. Clint Johnson, from NTSB's Alaska region, told the Associated Press that the weight, however, is just a 'data point' in the ongoing investigation and a final report including probable causes will take a year or more after the crash. Records also show the aircraft used a payload extender, allowing planes to increase the maximum weight, but despite this, the plane was still 803lbs over the limit for any flight operations. Mr Johnson added that it remains to be determined whether the weight of the plane would have been a factor in the accident. The NTSB said a senior engineer will conduct a detailed review of the plane's performance, including its centre of gravity location. The investigators will also be reviewing all weather factors pertaining to the accident, as well as what information was relayed to the pilot about the weather and if ice conditions existed at the crash locations. Mr Johnson said that icing conditions were forecast along the route, and it was snowing, with some freezing rain in Nome. The report also reveals that contact was lost minutes after air traffic control told the pilot the runway in Nome would be closed for about 15 minutes for de-icing. '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 report states. The pilot handbook specifies that an air speed of 95 knots must be maintained to fly in icing conditions if de-icing equipment is fully functional. The pilot was told to descend and maintain 4,000 feet at his discretion, then the autopilot disengaged at 99 knots, then dropped within seconds to 70 knots and was at about 3,100 feet, the report says. The final satellite tracking data came less than one minute later at 3.20pm at an altitude of 200 feet. The report also looked into the anti-icing system on the wings and the tail of the turbo-propeller plane. The operator said the quantity of de-icing fluid was checked during each preflight inspection, with the pilot being responsible for ensuring there was a sufficient quantity onboard. However, no record is required when the fluid is added to the plane. A worker at the Unalakleet airport told the pilot that the fluid was available, but the pilot told her the tank was full, the report says. The plane, a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, had been carrying nine adult passengers and a pilot on a 'regular commuter flight' before it disappeared. The plane took off from Unalakleet, a small community of 690 people, at 2.37pm towards Nome, before officials lost contact with it less than an hour later. Two days later, the Nome Volunteer Fire Department said in a Facebook post that the bodies of all 10 victims who died in the crash had been recovered. 'All 10 individuals aboard the Bering Air plane have been officially brought home to Nome,' they wrote.
The Independent
20-03-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
Plane crash which killed 10 in Alaska was half a ton overweight, investigation finds
The plane involved in the Alaska regional airline crash that killed 10 people was found to be about half a ton overweight for a flight in icy conditions, US investigators said on Wednesday. Bering Air Flight 445 was reported missing just before 4pm local time on 6 February while en route from Unalakleet to Nome in the west of Alaska, yet the flight ended in one of the deadliest plane crashes in the state for 25 years. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a preliminary report that calculations showed that the plane's estimated gross takeoff weight at departure was 9,865lbs, around 1,058lbs (roughly just under half a ton) heavier than the maximum for icy conditions, the NTSB said. Clint Johnson, from NTSB's Alaska region, told the Associated Press that the weight, however, is just a 'data point' in the ongoing investigation and a final report including probable causes will take a year or more after the crash. Records also show the aircraft used a payload extender, allowing planes to increase the maximum weight, but despite this, the plane was still 803lbs over the limit for any flight operations. Mr Johnson added that it remains to be determined whether the weight of the plane would have been a factor in the accident. The NTSB said a senior engineer will conduct a detailed review of the plane's performance, including its centre of gravity location. The investigators will also be reviewing all weather factors pertaining to the accident, as well as what information was relayed to the pilot about the weather and if ice conditions existed at the crash locations. Mr Johnson said that icing conditions were forecast along the route, and it was snowing, with some freezing rain in Nome. The report also reveals that contact was lost minutes after air traffic control told the pilot the runway in Nome would be closed for about 15 minutes for de-icing. '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 report states. The pilot handbook specifies that an air speed of 95 knots must be maintained to fly in icing conditions if de-icing equipment is fully functional. The pilot was told to descend and maintain 4,000 feet at his discretion, then the autopilot disengaged at 99 knots, then dropped within seconds to 70 knots and was at about 3,100 feet, the report says. The final satellite tracking data came less than one minute later at 3.20pm at an altitude of 200 feet. The report also looked into the anti-icing system on the wings and the tail of the turbo-propeller plane. The operator said the quantity of de-icing fluid was checked during each preflight inspection, with the pilot being responsible for ensuring there was a sufficient quantity onboard. However, no record is required when the fluid is added to the plane. A worker at the Unalakleet airport told the pilot that the fluid was available, but the pilot told her the tank was full, the report says. The plane, a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, had been carrying nine adult passengers and a pilot on a 'regular commuter flight' before it disappeared. The plane took off from Unalakleet, a small community of 690 people, at 2.37pm towards Nome, before officials lost contact with it less than an hour later. Two days later, the Nome Volunteer Fire Department said in a Facebook post that the bodies of all 10 victims who died in the crash had been recovered. 'All 10 individuals aboard the Bering Air plane have been officially brought home to Nome,' they wrote.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
NTSB: Bering Air plane was overloaded prior to crash near Nome that killed 10
Mar. 19—The Bering Air flight that crashed near Nome last month, killing the pilot and all nine passengers, was more than 1,000 pounds too heavy for the icy weather it was flying into, according to a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report released Wednesday. The crash was the third fatal civilian aviation incident in the U.S. in less than a week and one of Alaska's deadliest in recent decades. The Bering Air Cessna Caravan left Unalakleet the afternoon of Feb. 6 and went down just over 30 miles southeast of Nome. Six of the passengers were returning from jobs in Unalakleet, including a crew working on the water plant and a teaching mentor. Three others and the pilot were residents of Unalakleet or Nome. The next day, U.S. Coast Guard confirmed the deaths of all 10 people aboard Flight 445. The NTSB report provides the first clues into what investigators think may have caused the plane to go down on the Norton Sound sea ice. The agency won't issue a probable cause until at least next year. Freezing rain was reported in Nome at the time of the crash. A large weather front over Western Alaska created the potential for ice buildup as the plane neared the airport, according to the NTSB report. The combination of occupants, baggage and cargo put the plane's takeoff weight at about 9,865 pounds — about 1,058 pounds over "the maximum takeoff gross weight for flight into known or forecast icing conditions," NTSB investigator in charge Timothy Sorensen wrote. The Federal Aviation Administration requires operators to follow the weight limitations. The maximum gross takeoff weight generally reflects the heaviest weight at which a plane can safely land. There was nothing loaded onto that Bering Air flight that would have made it extraordinarily heavy, said NTSB Alaska chief Clint Johnson. The report described just under 800 pounds of baggage or cargo. "It's the passengers, the pilot, the fuel on board ... in addition to cargo," Johnson said. "Tools, everything you could possibly imagine coming out of the Bush." Along with the cargo compartment, the plane was outfitted with an additional pod that was certificated by the FAA, he said. The cargo pod allowed Bering Air to operate under a higher maximum weight during normal conditions but not when icing was possible. Deicing delay The plane's final signal came around 3:20 p.m. on Feb. 6. Just after 3:10 p.m., the NTSB report said, a controller informed pilot Chad Antill that the runway in Nome needed deicing and would temporarily close for 10 to 15 minutes. At 3:14 p.m., the controller "added if the pilot wanted to 'slow down a little bit' to prevent the flight from arriving before the runway reopened, that would be fine," Sorensen wrote. Antill acknowledged the statement and the plane slowed and leveled off at 6,000 feet before descending to 4,000 feet a few minutes later, the report said. Then, about a minute before the plane disappeared, the autopilot was disengaged and the flight's speed and altitude dropped, it said. The controller monitoring the flight issued a low-altitude alert at 3:20 p.m., Sorensen wrote. "The controller's efforts to contact the pilot were not successful, and no further communications were received." Satellite tracking data picked up the plane's final signal at 200 feet, the report said. A Bering Air representative did not immediately respond to a message left at the company's Nome offices on Wednesday. Investigators to weigh weather, performance The federal report released Wednesday said the plane crashed north of a large stationary weather front that stretched west to east, from the Bering Sea into Northwestern Canada. Aviation weather advisories issued the day of the crash called for "occasional moderate icing" between 2,000 and 8,000 feet, the report said. Weather observations at Nome included "trace icing" starting just before 3 p.m. the day of the crash, it said. The plane was equipped with deicing technology and fluid, according to the report. Investigators examining the wreckage noted minor ice accumulation on some leading-edge surfaces and significant accumulation at the base of the strobe light at the top of the plane's tail fin. Authorities have said they did not pick up any emergency signals from an onboard transmitter and heard no distress calls from the pilot. Investigators determined the plane's emergency locator transmitter became disconnected from the antenna on impact, rendering it inoperable, according to the new report. Along with multiple factors including weather, officials say the crash investigation will include a review by a senior NTSB aerospace engineer of the plane's performance, including an evaluation of the airplane's center of gravity location. [Shock, grief and support: Remembering the 10 Alaskans who died on Bering Air Flight 445] Bering Air, in operation since 1979, serves 32 villages in Western Alaska from hubs in Nome, Kotzebue and Unalakleet. People in multiple small villages served by the longtime Western Alaska air carrier welcomed planes with prayer circles as service resumed several days after the crash. The Bering Air crash appears to be Alaska's deadliest since 2013, when 10 people died in Soldotna during takeoff of a Rediske Air Inc. charter carrying two families going bear viewing. It was Bering Air's first fatal crash reported since 1987, when the pilot of a cargo flight died near Ambler, according to a federal database. Killed in last month's crash were 34-year-old Nome resident Antill and passengers Rhone Baumgartner, 46, of Anchorage; Donnell Erickson, 58, of Nome; Andrew Gonzalez, 30, of Wasilla; Kameron Hartvigson, 41, of Anchorage; Ian Hofmann, 45, of Anchorage; Talaluk Katchatag, 34, of Unalakleet; JaDee Moncur, 52, of Eagle River; Carol Mooers, 48, of Unalakleet; and Liane Ryan, 52, of Wasilla.
