American airline
Bering Air is an Americanairline headquartered inNome, Alaska , United States. It operates domestic scheduled passenger and charter airline services, as well asair ambulance andhelicopter services. Its main base isNome Airport , with hubs atRalph Wien Memorial Airport (Kotzebue ) andUnalakleet Airport .[ 4]
In early 1975, Jim Rowe and three college friends embarked on a journey from northern Michigan, and traveled acrossAmerica in aCessna 195 , landing in Mexico'sBaja California peninsula , and eventually settling on the beaches ofNome, Alaska . A few years later, in September 1979, Bering Air was established. It commenced operations on October 3, 1979, with a singleDe Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter . Later, in 1983, with instigation of the increasingly popular bypass mail system, the airline added other small aircraft, including thePiper Navajo ,Beech 18 , andPiper Seneca . Bering Air, in favor of modern,turbine powered aircraft, later phased out aircraft equipped with radial engines. Thus, theBeechcraft King Air 200 ,Beechcraft 1900 D,Cessna Caravan , andCASA C-212 were introduced. Furthermore, off airport duties were transferred tohelicopters , instead of older piston powered aircraft. In 2015, the airline upgraded its fleet with eight Cessna 208EX Grand Caravan aircraft replacing its older Cessna 208B aircraft.[ 5] Today, the airline is wholly owned by Jim Rowe (President) and Christine Rowe.
In July 2020 Bering Air bought atRavn Alaska's bankruptcy auction the facilities in Aniak, Kotzebue, Nome and Unalakleet.[ 6]
As of February 2025, the Bering Air fleet consists of the following aircraft:[ 7]
Bering Air Beech 1900D at Nome, Alaska A Bering Air Cessna 208B Grand Caravan in Nome, Alaska Bering Air has previously operated the following aircraft:
Bering Air, along withGrant Aviation ,Frontier Flying Service ,Northern Air Cargo ,PenAir , andRyan Air Services , participates in the Flying Can service, which allows rural Alaskan communities to recycle aluminum cans and now number 1 PET bottles in cooperation withAlaskans for Litter Prevention and Recycling .[ 10]
Bering Air provides free delivery on scheduled flights for Airport Pizza, apizzeria at Nome Airport that takes orders from remote locations served by Bering Air.[ 11]
Passenger and cargo charter services are flown from Kotzebue and Nome to destinations throughout theUnited States , andRussia .[ 4]
Bering Air offers scheduled passenger service to 29 cities in Western Alaska from hubs in Nome, Kotzebue and Unalakleet.[ 12] [ 13] [ 14] [ 15]
Ambler (ABL) –Ambler Airport Brevig Mission (KTS) –Brevig Mission Airport Buckland (BKC) –Buckland Airport Cape Lisburne (LUR) –Cape Lisburne LRRS Airport Deering (DRG) –Deering Airport Elim (ELI) –Elim Airport Gambell (GAM) –Gambell Airport Golovin (GLV) –Golovin Airport Kiana (IAN) –Bob Baker Memorial Airport Kivalina (KVL) –Kivalina Airport Kobuk (OBU) –Kobuk Airport Kotzebue (OTZ) –Ralph Wien Memorial Airport Koyuk (KKA) –Koyuk Alfred Adams Airport Noatak (WTK) –Noatak Airport Nome (OME) –Nome Airport Noorvik (ORV) –Robert (Bob) Curtis Memorial Airport Point Hope (PHO) –Point Hope Airport St. Michael (SMK) –St. Michael Airport Savoonga (SVA) –Savoonga Airport Selawik (WLK) –Selawik Airport Shaktoolik (SKK) –Shaktoolik Airport Shishmaref (SHH) –Shishmaref Airport Shungnak (SHG) –Shungnak Airport Stebbins (WBB) –Stebbins Airport Teller (TLA) –Teller Airport Tin City (TNC) –Tin City LRRS Airport Unalakleet (UNK) –Unalakleet Airport Wales (WAA) –Wales Airport White Mountain (WMO) –White Mountain Airport Former destinations [ edit ] Council (CIL) –Council Airport Diomede (DIO) –Diomede Island Airport (ice runway, winter only)Port Clarence (KPC) –Port Clarence Coast Guard Station Bering Air offered charter service from Nome andAnchorage toAnadyr andProvideniya in theRussian Far East .[ 16] This service is currently suspended.[ 17]
Accidents and Incidents [ edit ] December 10, 1987 – N9979M, an air taxi cargo flightCessna 207 Skywagon , crashed into mountains due to bad weather conditions, killing the pilot.[ 18] January 5, 1993 – N900YH, aMitsubishi MU-2 , crashed into theBering Sea due tofuel starvation , injuring the pilot.[ 19] December 18, 1995 – N340K, aBeechcraft G18S , crashed into the ground due to anin-flight fire shortly after takeoff fromNome Airport , injuring the pilot.[ 20] September 8, 1997 – N1123R, aCessna 208 Caravan , collided with aCessna 402 while preparing to depart fromBuckland Airport . All 17 people on board both planes were evacuated uninjured.[ 21] [ 22] March 2, 2003 – N205BA, aCessna 208 Caravan , crashed into snow-covered sea ice due to a whiteout condition. The pilot was injured and the aircraft was repaired.[ 23] October 24, 2005 – N1263Y, aCessna 208 Caravan , crashed into the ground due topilot error . The two pilots were injured and the aircraft was repaired.[ 24] September 18, 2009 – N349TA, aCASA C-212 Aviocar ,overran runway 05 atSavoonga Airport . The two pilots were evacuated uninjured and the aircraft was repaired.[ 25] October 21, 2017 – N363JH, an air ambulanceBeechcraft B200 , made abelly landing atTed Stevens Anchorage International Airport . All four people on board were evacuated uninjured and the aircraft was repaired.[ 26] February 6, 2025 –Bering Air Flight 445 , aCessna 208B Grand Caravan , crashed onto ice aroundNorton Sound with 10 people on board. The pilot and the nine passengers perished.[ 27] [ 28] [ 29] [ 30] ^ "Federal Aviation Administration - Airline Certificate Information - Detail View" .av-info.faa.gov . RetrievedJune 27, 2019 .^ "Bering Air fleet" .Flightradar24 . RetrievedFebruary 9, 2025 .^ "Bering Air Flight Schedules" . Bering Air. RetrievedFebruary 9, 2025 .^a b c "Directory: World Airlines".Flight International . March 27, 2007. p. 85. ^ "Bering Air Updates Fleet".Airliner World : 15. October 2015. ^ "Southern California company will take over some RavnAir service after bankruptcy auction" .adn.com . July 9, 2020. RetrievedJuly 10, 2020 .^ "Plane Charters for Western Alaska" . Bering Air. RetrievedAugust 8, 2017 .^ "Bering Air Charters" .Bering Air . RetrievedDecember 22, 2024 .^ "Helicopters - Twin Peaks Adventures" . Archived fromthe original on January 12, 2011. Retrieved2011-02-10 .^ Tuttle, Logan (June 16, 2010)."Rural recycling finds a PET project" .The Arctic Sounder .Alaska Newspapers, Inc. Archived fromthe original on July 16, 2011. RetrievedOctober 16, 2010 . ^ "Airport Pizza Review | Kodiak, Nome, and the Bush | Fodor's Restaurant Reviews" . June 27, 2013. Archived fromthe original on June 27, 2013. RetrievedOctober 19, 2019 .^ "Reservations" . Bering Air. RetrievedJune 11, 2014 .^ "Nome Flight Schedule" (PDF) . Bering Air. October 7, 2013. Archived fromthe original (PDF) on September 27, 2007. RetrievedJune 11, 2014 .^ "Kotzebue Flight Schedule]" (PDF) . Bering Air. October 7, 2013. Archived fromthe original (PDF) on September 6, 2014. RetrievedJune 11, 2014 .^ "Unalakleet Flight Schedule" (PDF) . Bering Air. October 7, 2013. Archived fromthe original (PDF) on July 22, 2012. RetrievedJune 11, 2014 .^ "Russian Travel" . Bering Air. Archived fromthe original on April 28, 2014. RetrievedJune 11, 2014 .^ "Russian Travel" .Bering Air . RetrievedNovember 26, 2024 .^ "Crash of a Cessna 207A Skywagon near Ambler: 1 killed" .Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives . RetrievedFebruary 8, 2025 .^ "Crash of a Mitsubishi MU-2B-35 Marquise near Nome" .Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives . RetrievedFebruary 8, 2025 .^ "Crash of a Beechcraft G18S in Nome" .Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives . RetrievedFebruary 8, 2025 .^ "N1123R accident description" .Aviation Safety Network . RetrievedFebruary 8, 2025 .^ "N2649Z accident description" .Aviation Safety Network . RetrievedFebruary 8, 2025 .^ "N205BA accident description" .Aviation Safety Network . RetrievedFebruary 8, 2025 .^ "N1263Y accident description" .Aviation Safety Network . RetrievedFebruary 8, 2025 .^ "N349TA accident description" .Aviation Safety Network . RetrievedFebruary 8, 2025 .^ "Fatigue Featured in Anchorage Alaska Air Ambulance Accident" . Aerossurance. July 2, 2020. RetrievedFebruary 8, 2025 .^ Downing, Suzanne (February 6, 2025)."Breaking: Bering Air flight into Nome overdue with 10 aboard; search is on" . RetrievedFebruary 6, 2025 . ^ Klecka, Joey (February 6, 2025)."Report: Plane with 10 onboard missing near Nome" .Alaska's News Source . RetrievedFebruary 6, 2025 . ^ Helsel, Phil (February 7, 2025)."Report: Missing plane with 10 aboard found crashed in Alaska, no survivors expected" .NBC News . RetrievedFebruary 7, 2025 . ^ Kaminski-Morrow, David (February 8, 2025)."Alaska search team finds no survivors in wreckage of Bering Air Cessna Caravan" .FlightGlobal . DVV Media International. RetrievedFebruary 8, 2025 .