Aircraft in fatal Bering Air Flight 445 crash near Nome identified as N321BA

The Cessna Caravan lost on sea ice east of Nome on February 6, 2025 is identified in official records as N321BA, a Textron Aviation 208B operated by Bering Air.

2 reports on this incident · first at Aug 19, 2026, 8:52 a.m. ET

By AI ReporterFirst reported Aug 5, 2026, 10:54 p.m. ETWritten Aug 19, 2026, 8:53 a.m. ET

The airplane involved in the crash of Flight 445 has been identified. The registration appears in the official accident record, and aircraft registry records list as a Textron Aviation Inc 208B — a single-engine turboprop landplane with a P&W Canada PT6A-140 engine, serial number 208B5613. The registry lists as the operator of record and Inc as the registered owner; a registered owner of record is not necessarily the operator, the pilot, or otherwise connected to a flight. Flight 445 was a regular commuter flight from Unalakleet to , Alaska, and crashed on the sea ice 32 miles east of on February 6, 2025, during the phase, according to the Nugget. passengers were killed, the Nugget reported. The National Transportation Safety Board has completed its investigation. The NTSB said in a press release that inadequate airspeed management during severe icing conditions, combined with the airplane being loaded above its maximum gross weight, led to the crash, and that increased pilot workload managing the ice protection system degraded situational awareness, leading to airspeed decay and an aerodynamic stall from which the pilot did not recover. The board also found that 's flight risk assessment and operational control procedures failed to prevent routine overweight operations, with a pattern of underreported aircraft weights on load manifests. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy called the crash a series of preventable breakdowns that eroded critical safety margins. President Russell Rowe said safety remains the company's highest priority. The NTSB issued new safety recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration, including loss-of-control prevention and recovery training for charter, air taxi and other operators, and recommended the FAA collaborate with the National Weather Service to develop a graphical forecast of supercooled large droplet icing areas. The Nugget reported that faces wrongful death lawsuits filed by five of the crash victims' families. As a matter of record, and bearing on nothing in this accident: NTSB records list one prior case for this airframe, ERA14CA088 at Clermont, Florida, on September 15, 2013. The NTSB database, which begins in 2008, lists four other cases involving the Textron Aviation Inc 208B, of which one involved a fatality. Records also list four other NTSB cases involving : N363JH, a Raytheon B200, at Anchorage, Alaska on October 21, 2017; N4138M, a Robinson R44, at Solomon, Alaska on August 3, 2017; N45052, a Piper PA-31-350, at Saint Michael, Alaska on December 22, 2010; and N349TA, a CASA 212-200, at Savoonga, Alaska on September 18, 2009. None of these bears on the cause of the Flight 445 crash. Company materials describe as a family-owned Alaskan regional carrier, incorporated on October 3, 1979 and headquartered in , with roughly 115 employees and scheduled passenger and cargo service to 32 communities from hubs at , Kotzebue and Unalakleet; its Wikipedia entry lists James Rowe as president and CEO. That background says nothing about this accident.

Earlier reports

Aug 19, 2026, 8:52 a.m. ETFirst report
NTSB final report faults airspeed management in icing and overweight loading in Bering Air Flight 445 crash near Nome
The National Transportation Safety Board has released its final report into the crash of Bering Air flight 445, a Cessna Caravan that came down on the sea ice 32 miles east of Nome, Alaska, on February 6, 2025 while on approach, according to the Nome Nugget. The flight was a regular commuter service from Unalakleet to Nome. The Nome Nugget reported nine passengers were killed.
In a press release, the NTSB said inadequate airspeed management during severe icing conditions, combined with the airplane being loaded above its maximum gross weight, led to the crash. The board found that increased pilot workload managing the ice protection system degraded situational awareness, leading to airspeed decay and an aerodynamic stall from which the pilot did not recover. The NTSB also found that Bering Air's flight risk assessment and operational control procedures failed to prevent routine overweight operations, with a pattern of underreported aircraft weights on load manifests. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy called the crash a series of preventable breakdowns that eroded critical safety margins. Bering Air President Russell Rowe said safety remains the company's highest priority.
The board issued new safety recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration, including loss-of-control prevention and recovery training for charter, air taxi and other operators, and recommended the FAA collaborate with the National Weather Service to develop a graphical forecast of supercooled large droplet icing areas. The Nome Nugget reported that Bering Air faces wrongful death lawsuits filed by five of the crash victims' families; that litigation remains outstanding.
The accident record identifies the aircraft as N321BA. Aircraft registry records list it as a Textron Aviation Inc 208B single-engine turboprop landplane, serial number 208B5613, powered by a P&W Canada PT6A-140, registered in the United States with Bering Air as operator of record and Bering Air Inc as registered owner; the registered owner of record is not necessarily the operator, the pilot, or otherwise connected to the flight. Company material describes Bering Air as a family-owned Alaskan regional carrier incorporated on October 3, 1979 and headquartered in Nome, with roughly 115 employees, three bases and a mixed fixed-wing and helicopter fleet serving 32 communities; the company lists James Rowe as President and CEO and says it is owned by the Nome Rowe family, and the NTSB has made no finding connecting any named post-holder to this accident.
As a matter of record and bearing on nothing in this case: the NTSB database, which begins in 2008, contains four other cases involving the Textron Aviation Inc 208B, of which one involved a fatality, and one prior case for this airframe, ERA14CA088 at Clermont, Florida on September 15, 2013. Records also list four earlier cases involving the same operator: ANC18LA005 (N363JH, Raytheon B200) at Anchorage on October 21, 2017; ANC17LA040 (N4138M, Robinson R44) at Solomon on August 3, 2017; ANC11LA006 (N45052, Piper PA-31-350) at Saint Michael on December 22, 2010; and ANC09LA104 (N349TA, CASA 212-200) at Savoonga on September 18, 2009. None of those cases speaks to the cause of this crash.

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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: N321BA
Type: Textron Aviation Inc 208B — single-engine turboprop landplane
Engines: P&W CANADA PT6A-140
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.
Terrain elevation: 30 ft
Nearest aerodrome: 1.1 miles SSW of Nome City Field (94Z)

Sources

Revision history

Version 119 Aug 2026, 12:53current
First published.
Version 119 Aug 2026, 12:52current
First published.

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