NTSB Investigating Piper PA-31-350 Accident at Eek, Alaska
An accident record lists substantial damage to a twin-engine Piper operated as a Part 135 flight on 17 November 2025; the cause has not been determined.
By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 7, 2026, 9:45 a.m. ET
The National Transportation Safety Board has an open investigation into an accident involving a at Eek, Alaska, on 17 November 2025 at about local time, according to the accident record. This is a developing event and the available official filing is preliminary in nature.
The accident record lists the aircraft as having sustained substantial damage, classifies the flight as a Part 135 commuter or on-demand operation, and names the operator as . The record does not list injury counts, which is usual for a preliminary filing; no casualty figures are available in the material reviewed for this report. The cause has not been determined, and the NTSB is the investigating body.
The accident record gives the registration as . Aircraft registry records list as a , a twin-engine piston landplane, serial number 31-8353004, registered in the United States, with the operator of record and registered owner given as Bering Air Inc; the owner of record is not necessarily the operator of the flight, the pilot, or otherwise connected to it. Registry entries can be out of date. Geographic reference data places Eek Airport in the Unorganized Borough of Alaska at a settlement elevation of 16 ft, about 694 ft south of Eek Airport (PAEE/EEK), 23 miles ESE of Tuntutuliak Airport and 32 miles NNW of Quinhagak Airport.
As background on the owner of record only: Bering Air, Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered in Nome, Alaska, which began operations on 3 October 1979 and flies scheduled passenger, cargo and charter services along with air ambulance and helicopter work in western and northwestern Alaska, according to Wikipedia; the company's own website describes it as an FAA-certified US regional air service operating from hubs in Nome, Kotzebue and Unalakleet to 32 communities, and as an FAA Part 133 external-load operator. Wikipedia lists a fleet of 39 aircraft, about 115 employees and air operator certificate number FXTA050A, and names James Rowe as president and CEO. A company directory listing names David Olson as pilot and director of operations and Deb Walker as director of safety; the investigation has made no finding connecting any of these post-holders to this accident. None of this bears on the cause.
As a matter of record, NTSB files list other cases involving the same owner/operator: ANC25MA018, a Textron Aviation 208B, N321BA, at Nome, Alaska, on 6 February 2025, with 10 fatal; ANC18LA005, a Raytheon B200, N363JH, at Anchorage on 21 October 2017; ANC17LA040, a Robinson R44, N4138M, at Solomon, Alaska, on 3 August 2017; ANC11LA006, a , N45052, at Saint Michael, Alaska, on 22 December 2010; and ANC09LA104, a CASA 212-200, N349TA, at Savoonga, Alaska, on 18 September 2009. Separately, the NTSB database, which begins in 2008, contains 45 other cases involving the type, of which 11 involved a fatality. These are counts of history and say nothing about the cause of this accident, which remains under investigation.
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Reference data
From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.
Registration
N4112D
Type
Piper PA-31-350 — twin-engine piston landplane
Operator of record
Bering Air
Registered owner
Bering Air IncThe owner of record is not necessarily the operator, the pilot, or otherwise connected to the flight.
Tightened wording and clarified that the 16 ft elevation refers to the settlement; no new facts.
Version 15 Aug 2026, 19:24
First published.
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