Alaska – February 6, 2025

On February 6, 2025, about 1520 Alaska standard time, a Textron Aviation
208B airplane, N321BA, operated as Bering Air flight 445, was destroyed when it was
involved in an accident near Nome, Alaska. The pilot and nine passengers died. The
airplane was operated under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135 as a
scheduled charter flight.

About 1512, PAOM closed both of its runways for deicing, which was expected
to take 10 to 15 minutes. The radar controller informed the pilot of the closure and
suggested that he could “slow down a little bit” to prevent arriving before the runway
was reopened. The pilot reduced engine power, and the airplane’s airspeed
decreased from about 160 kts to about 110 kts; the pilot then increased engine
power, and the airspeed increased to about 126 kts. About 1519, the airspeed again
began to decrease, down to about 99 kts, which activated the airplane’s low airspeed
awareness (LAA) system. As designed, activation of the LAA system resulted in the
autopilot disengaging.
At 1519:46, the airplane’s descent rate was about 2,000 feet per minute (fpm);
data from the airplane’s onboard avionics indicate that the airplane’s pitch attitude
reached its maximum value of about 10º to12º nose up (consistent with an elevator input by the pilot) at an airspeed of 89 kts about this time. Its descent rate then
decreased to 1,400 fpm over 3 seconds. Over the next 8 to 9 seconds, the airplane’s
airspeed decreased to about 70 kts at an altitude of about 3,100 ft mean sea level
(msl).
At 1520:07, the radar controller instructed the pilot to climb and maintain
4,000 ft msl. The controller attempted to contact the pilot again 7 seconds later but
received no response. The final automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast
position data point was recorded at 1520:09 when the airplane was at an altitude of
1,325 ft msl. It impacted pack ice about 12 miles offshore of Norton Sound and about
32 miles east of PAOM.

Source NTSB

https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AIR-26-05.pdf