The highest ranking official of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy, traveled to Nome Sunday to oversee the initial stages of the investigation into the Bering Air plane crash that killed all 10 on board.
She spoke with KNOM reporter Ben Townsend about the agency's next steps.
Below is the transcript of the interview. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Ben Townsend: To start, why did you decide it was necessary to come to Nome for this investigation?
Jennifer Homendy: Typically, when we get notification of an accident that occurs in any mode of transportation —and the NTSB doesn't just do aviation, we do all modes of transportation— we'll get a notification to have what we call a chair's call. So we'll all get on the line and talk about what we know, and we'll talk about should we launch just a staff team of staff investigators, or should a board member or the chair go?
And for this, we would consider this a pretty major accident, and anywhere in the United States, I or one of the other board members would go to this. I'm particularly sensitive to Alaska and Hawaii, although they're farther, if we're going to go to Michigan or Illinois, we shouldn't treat anywhere else differently just because it's farther. So I think it's important aviation safety is critical, and aviation is part of a way of life in Alaska. So I thought it was critical that we'd be here as well.
BT: And I understand Friday morning there was a conversation with Alaska's congressional [delegation]. How did that go?
JH: Yeah, excellent. We have a lot of support from Senators Murkowski and Sullivan and also Congressman Begich. That's typical process where I will reach out to them and talk about our plans and we'll just discuss generally what we know.
Going forward, and normally, when I'm on the ground, I'll continue to keep them updated about what we're doing and get some input from them about what they are hearing as well and what their constituents' needs are, so that we make sure that we're addressing them. So it was a fantastic conversation. They have been extremely supportive of the NTSB and really appreciate all they're doing.
BT: Like you said, air travel is critically important, especially in western Alaska. What can you tell me about what your time will be focused on while you're in western Alaska?
JH: Whether it's here or anywhere else, first and foremost, the priority is victim rescue or recovery. So in those initial stages of, before we even start our accident investigation, we really are standing back and allowing those that are responsible for rescuing or recovering victims are able to do that without us getting in their way. That is the priority.
A Bering Air Cessna Caravan on the tarmac in Nome. Ben Townsend photo.
We do what we need to to support them in their efforts, and then at the right time, we will begin our investigation which includes documenting, in this case, the wreckage. And usually when the recovery efforts are going on we can begin our preparations for the investigation, make sure our whole team is en route. But again, we don't want to disturb those life saving moments or the recovery of the victims to make sure families get their loved ones.
And then for this we had investigators pretty early here, and then we had some that were also traveling from across the US that have different specialties. And then, of course, I and some others came out of DC, but we do have a regional office that is based in Anchorage so we do have a team that is full time in Alaska. They were able to get here pretty quickly.
BT: [Chief of the National NTSB's Alaska Regional Office] Clint [Johnson] threw out a number at one of the press conferences the other day in the ballpark of nine people were assigned to this. Are you able to substantiate that number?
JH: Yeah, actually we have a team total, not of all investigators, because we also have our Family Assistance Team here... total is 17.
BT: Wow, significant number. So coming back to the flight now, are there any other details you're able to share about the circumstances that led up to the accident itself?
JH: Not yet, it's still early. Like I said, the initial stages are victim recovery and then it's wreckage recovery, so once the victims were cared for and recovered, then we moved towards moving the wreckage and slinging the wreckage with AStars [helicopters] and it was in four loads. The first one went at about two o'clock [Saturday], and we finished everything by six o'clock.
We had a pretty short window because of the weather so we knew we had to get it off the ice. We were able to do that and then move it into a location right near the airport in a hangar to begin our examination. The focus now that we have the wreckage, it's documenting it all day. Today, they spent most of the day weighing the personal effects, because they'll do as standard in any investigation a weight and balance check. And again, that is standard. So they collected all the personal belongings and other items, and weighed all of that to get that documented, and then they laid out the wreckage itself.
BT: Thanks for peeling back the curtain a little bit on some of the things they're going to be looking for. Is there anything unique about doing this sort of work in Nome, where you're away from the office, or is this something that you guys are prepared to do in remote locations?
JH: We are prepared. We have an experienced team who lives right here in Alaska, so we're prepared. We also are not alone. We work with our partners, whether it's Bering Air or others. Certainly, Alaska State Troopers have been an incredible resource. The U.S. Coast Guard, Nome [Volunteer] Fire Department, Nome Police Department.
Federal Aviation Administration is part of our investigation, and we have Textron Aviation here to help examine the wreckage. Pratt & Whitney of Canada will also be traveling here because they manufacture the engine. So we do have a pretty big team and a lot of resources.
BT: What other bits of evidence are investigators looking at? Besides you mentioned, weight of baggage, what other systems on board might they be looking at particularly knowing the circumstances surrounding this crash?
JH: A couple of areas. And just to go back to what we're looking at, some things that I think is important to mention is when we do investigations, we group subject areas, and investigators look in at certain areas in the investigation. So we'll have a group that looks at the structure, which is the aircraft and powerplants.
We'll have a team that looks at operations, so they're going to really look at Bering Air operations. They'll collect maintenance records, they'll collect records on any sort of policies or procedures, standard operating procedures, they'll definitely collect information on, say, training or personnel. They'll look very broadly at operations.
They'll look at air traffic control, they'll also look at weather. We have meteorologists that are supporting us from our headquarters in DC, so certainly they'll be analyzing the weather as well.
BT: Sounds like a lot of information to process. Looking at a timeline here, how soon might a preliminary finding be released?
JH: We'll have a preliminary report which comes between 14 and 30 days. It's probably 30 days that we'll issue a preliminary report which includes our factual information. It's no analysis, no findings or conclusions.
And then we'll have our fact finding phase of the investigation, that's where we're gathering all the evidence.
Then we'll move into the analysis phase, where the NTSB looks at 'how do we prevent this from reoccurring?' 'How do we take lessons learned and issue safety recommendations that, if implemented, would prevent this from reoccurring?'
I think at any time in the investigation we do not have to wait till the end for a final report to issue a safety recommendation. We often issue urgent safety recommendations where we see a safety deficiency that has to be addressed. That could come at any time but it could be 12 to 18 months, hopefully 12 months, for completion of the final investigation. But there will be updates along the way that we provide.
BT: Are there any potential causes that investigators will try to zero in on sooner because of the circumstances around the crash? There was low visibility, potential icing. Is there anything that you're putting at the top of the list to check off?
JH: Certainly, weather conditions will be part of the investigation, but we're not really prioritizing one thing over another. We keep everything open. For now everything is important, all the evidence is critical. It's too early to really zero in on one area, but over time we'll start to rule things out.
BT: In closing, do you have a message from the NTSB for the people of western Alaska?
JH: I would just say we know very well how critical aviation is to all of Alaska, and we also know that whether It's Nome or another village throughout Alaska or the aviation community as a whole, it's a tight knit community.
And so we know this tragedy affected so many, certainly those that lost loved ones. Our heart goes out to them, family members, friends, but our hearts also go out to all of Nome and those at Bering Air as well. I'm sure it is hard for them and the entire community, it's got to be so devastating.
Just know that we're going to work diligently to determine how this happened with the entire focus of improving safety.
BT: That was Jennifer Homendy, the Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, speaking at the KNOM station in Nome. Jennifer, thank you for being here.
JH: Thank you so much for having me, Ben.