CNN — Recovery crews worked amid freezing temperatures and slushy sea ice on Friday to recover the remaining victims aboard a regional airline flight that crashed off the coast of western Alaska. The small commuter aircraft, carrying nine passengers and one pilot, took off from Unalakleet on Thursday afternoon before disappearing. The plane was later found on Friday, about 34 miles southeast of Nome, the flight’s intended destination, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. All 10 on board were declared dead.
The wreckage is currently resting on sea ice that officials described as unstable, with heavy snow and winds expected to worsen conditions this weekend. Recovery efforts will first focus on locating and recovering the bodies, after which the plane will be taken for further analysis, officials said.
Swimmers were “on the ice as we speak,” Jim West, Chief of the Nome Volunteer Fire Department, said at a news conference Friday night. The focus of the recovery operation was to detangle wreckage and “bring folks home,” though a time frame remains unclear. “We don’t know how long that’s going to take. It could go hours; it could go potentially days,” West said, citing the unpredictable nature of the crash site and incoming weather.
A winter weather advisory is now in effect until 9 p.m. Sunday, with blowing snow, rain, and mixed precipitation expected in Nome and other parts of western Alaska, according to the National Weather Service. Some areas may see up to five inches of snow, with ice accumulations of around a tenth of an inch, the NWS said. Wind gusts as high as 45 mph will also be recorded.
Investigators are working to determine the cause of the crash— the aircraft suddenly dropped in elevation and speed around 3:18 p.m. Thursday, according to the Coast Guard. The search for the aircraft had been complicated by poor weather and the absence of a distress signal from the plane.
Visibility improved on Friday morning, with temperatures around 5 degrees and clear skies at Nome Airport. Search teams, including National Guard and Coast Guard helicopters, were deployed, while a Coast Guard C-130 landed in Nome to assist with the effort.
At a vigil hosted by the city of Nome on Friday, Amanda Snyder, pastor at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, urged attendees to lean on each other for support. “Please do not isolate yourself in your grief,” Snyder said. “Words can’t express the loss we’re all feeling, we’re all connected in so many ways.”
The tragedy has deeply affected the Alaskan community, where travel by small plane is common due to the vast and remote landscape. “It’s just heartbreaking. Because every single person in this room has been on one of those planes,” Snyder told The Nome Nugget.
Among the deceased are Rhone Baumgartner and Kameron Hartvigson, two employees of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium who were in Unalakleet to service a heat recovery system for the community’s water plant. “They were the best at what they did and had just flown into Unalakleet to help address heating and mechanical issues in the depths of winter,” said Natasha Singh, ANTHC interim president and CEO. “They gave the ultimate sacrifice for the people we serve in the work we do.”
CNN’s Sarah Dewberry, Emma Tucker, Rebekah Riess, Chimaine Pouteau, and Jeremy Harlan contributed to this report.
