All 10 aboard confirmed dead in Alaska plane crash
ABC News
Investigators and other crews are searching for clues into how a Bering Air caravan crashed Thursday, killing all 10 people aboard.
Efforts to recover the victims' bodies were expected to begin Saturday on the sea ice where the plane crashed, 34 miles southeast of Nome, Alaska, according to the Alaska State Troopers.
There were nine passengers, all adults, and a pilot on board the commuter plane, authorities said. The wreckage was found on Friday with three people initially found dead inside, the Coast Guard said.Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said Saturday it's still too early to tell what caused the crash as the agency begins its investigation.
Weather conditions have made both the recovery and probe difficult as the wreckage is on an ice floe moving 5 miles a day, Homendy said during a press briefing.
The Alaska State Troopers will handle the recovery of the bodies, Coast Guard Lt. Commander Mike Salerno told ABC News. The Alaska National Guard also said Saturday that it would provide personnel and equipment to help with the operation including two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters, a Nome-based UH-60L Black Hawk, an HC -130J Combat King II and a team of pararescuemen.
The wreckage was found by a search and rescue crew on a USCG MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and then two rescue swimmers were lowered down to survey the plane.
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