Plane that crashed and killed 10 in Alaska was more than 1K pounds overweight, NTSB says

A small airplane that crashed off the Alaska coast last month, killing all 10 people on board, was hundreds of pounds overweight before taking off, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report released Wednesday.

The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan aircraft operated by Bering Air was making a 150-mile trip from Unalakleet, Alaska, to Nome, Alaska, a regularly scheduled commuter flight that traverses the Norton Sound, when it crashed on Feb. 6. The plane was initially reported missing but was found atop a "large floating icepack" the next day, according to the report.

Federal and state agencies launched a massive search over land and sea amid challenging weather conditions before the wreckage was discovered 34 miles southeast of Nome. Nine passengers and one pilot were killed in the crash.

The report noted that the icepack, subject to the tidal ocean currents, continuously moved about five to 10 miles per day, complicating search and rescue efforts. Light snow and moderate icing were also observed around the time of the crash, according to the report.

A post-accident examination of the plane's contents revealed that baggage and cargo weighed about 798 pounds, contributing to the plane's overall takeoff weight of roughly 9,865, the report stated. The estimated gross takeoff weight was about 1,058 pounds over the maximum for flights into icing conditions, and more than 800 pounds over the limit for any flight.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing and will likely be a year or longer before the final report is released, according to the NTSB.

"A senior NTSB aerospace engineer will conduct a detailed review of the airplane’s performance as part of the investigation, including an evaluation of the airplane’s center of gravity location," the report added.

Alaska plane disappeared from radar during commuter flight

The Bering Air flight was traveling from Unalakleet, a village of about 700 residents, to Nome, a town of less than 4,000 residents, when it was reported missing at around 4 p.m. local time on Feb. 6, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety.

Live flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 showed that the plane's last known position was over the water, nearly 40 minutes after leaving Unalakleet, which is typically less than an hour's flight from Nome. U.S. Coast Guard officials said the plane had dropped off the radar after experiencing a rapid loss of altitude and speed over the Norton Sound.

Authorities said the plane did not emit an emergency distress signal that would be triggered by a crash or exposure to seawater. The plane's disappearance sparked a massive search by federal and state agencies.

Search and rescue efforts had been hampered by poor weather and low visibility but a Coast Guard helicopter located the downed plane on Feb. 7. Authorities were able to recover all the bodies from the wreckage, which were then transported to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Anchorage for autopsies.

Recent aviation incidents in the U.S.

The crash in Alaska came amid heightened scrutiny of air safety in the U.S. Though experts have maintained that aviation remains extremely safe, recent incidents have raised concerns about flying.

NTSB investigators are still probing two deadly crashes that occurred in late January: the midair collision of an American Airlines passenger plane and U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people; and a medical jet crash in Philadelphia that killed seven.

Other incidents have also made headlines, including a Delta Air Lines regional jet that flipped upside down upon arrival at Canada's Toronto Pearson Airport in February.

Later that month, two plane crashes were reported in Arizona. Two private jets collided at the Scottsdale Airport in Arizona, killing one person and injuring four on Feb. 10. On Feb. 19, two single-engine planes collided outside the Marana Regional Airport, killing two people.

And last week, an American Airlines plane caught fire at Denver International Airport. Six crew members and 172 passengers were forced to evacuate by slides, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, Eve Chen, and Nathan Diller, USA TODAY; Reuters